
Glass F 5 5 1 
Book P4v ^ 



ANNALS OF THE ¥EST: 

EMBRACING A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF '" 7r V 

ft.* ■ r — 

PEINCIPAL EVENTS, 

" WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN THE 

WESTERN STATES AND TERRITORIES, 



FROM THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO THE YEAR 
EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY. 

COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 
FOR THE PROJECTOR. 

FIRST EDITION, 

BY JAMES H; PERKINS. 

SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED 

BY J. M.» PECK. 



ST. LOUIS: 
PUBLISHED BY JAMES R. ALBACH. 

CHAMBERS & KNAPP, PRINTERS. 

1850. 



Entered occordiDg to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by James R. Albach, in the 
Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Missouri. 






PREFACE 



• In presenting a second Edition of this work, the pro- 
jector and proprietor believes the occasion appropriate 
for an explanation of such circumstances as induced 
the undertaking. 

From his earliest recollection, the study of the histo- 
ry and geography of our country, has afforded pleasures 
to be derived, in an equal degree, from few other sour- 
ces. The memories of childhood recall the delightful 
emotions ever experienced from listening to recitals of 
thrilling events, and descriptions of distant scenes. 

The gratification of similar emotions, or rather a pas- 
sion for an acquaintance with historical and topographi- 
cal facts relative to the " Great West/^ but particularly 
such as might elucidate its beginnings, rise, and pro- 
gress towards its future destiny, has been a principal 
employment of the publisher for nearly thirty years, 
during which time he has traversed most of that exten- 
sive region, and visited nearly every memorable spot, 
for the means of forming an enlightened judgment, and 
correct ideas of men and events in times past. Nothing, 
however, of the materials or knowledge thus acquired, 
was collected with a view to publication, being solely 



IV PREFACE. 

the natural and incidental results of researches, entered 
upon and pursued for his private gratification. 

A change of circumstances, however, seemed to jus- 
tify an alteration of purposes; consequently, in 1844, 
promulgation was commenced by written and oral lec- 
tures ; as one thought originates another, in 1845 the 
idea of publishing in book form, first occurred. 

The proprietor, then residing in Ohio, submitted his 
plan to several gentlemen of eminent standing, who at 
once gave it their cordial approbation. A prospectus 
was immediately circulated, and patrons by hundreds, 
obtained throughout that community. 

Demonstrations of future popularity, sufficient to en- 
sure a successful issue, having thus been made, an en- 
gagement was entered into in the spring of 1846, with 
the late Rev. James H. Perkins, of Cincinnati, by which 
he took charge of the compilation, and prepared the 
work f0r the press ; and no one acquainted with that 
deservedly esteemed and lamented gentleman, need be 
informed, that the trust could not have been committed 
to belter or more able hands. 

A volume of 600 pages appeared before the close of 
that year : but an obligation to publish at the promised 
time, made it necessary, somewhat, to depart from the 
projector's plan, and to present the book in a form not 
deemed the most eligible. 

In view of this circumstance, together with a desire 
to extend and amplify the sketches of Illinois, Missouri, 



PREFACE. V 

and other communities more recently developed, the 
present Edition was resolved upon: which is a revision 
of the first, enlarged by the Rev. John M. Peck, of Illinois, 
a gentleman well calculated for this duty, from his long 
residence in the West and familiarity with the history of 
those portions less elaborately treated of in the former 
Edition. Notwithstanding, this edition is still not ar- 
ranged in strict accordance with the plan originally pro- 
jected, yet it is believed that for general accuracy and 
especial fulness of detail, it may be commended to its 
readers in its present form as worthy of attention. — 
Although it is not presumed to be wholly free from er- 
rors and imperfections, it will be found to contain a 
faithful narrative of memorable events, deserving the 
perusal of western people, especially the young, and the 
descendants of our Pioneers, to whom the volume is 
most respectfully dedicated. 

JAMES R. ALBACH. 
St. Louis, May, 1850. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



E512. Ponce de Leon discovers Florida. 

J516. Diego Miruelo visits Florida. 

1526. Famphilo de Narvaez goes to Florida. 

5538. De Soto asks leave to conquer Florida. 

1539. Maj', De Soto reaches Tampa and Appalachee bays. 

3541. De Soto reaches Mississippi, and crosses it to Washita. 

De Soto reaches Mavilla, on the Alabama. 
£542. De Soto descends Washita to Mississippi. 

May 21, De Soto dies. 

His followers try to reach Mexico by land and fail. 

De Soto's followers reach Mexico by water. 

De Biedma presents his account of De Soto's expeditiou to 

King of Spain. 
Le Caron explores Upper Canada. 

Charles First grants Carolina to Sir Robert Heath, p. 69. 
First mission founded near Lake Huron. 
French at Falls of St. Mary, Lake Superior. 
First missionary station on Lake Superior. 
Colonel Wood's alledged travels previous to this year. 
Allouez founds first permanent station on Lake Superior. 
Mission at St. Mary's Falls founded. 
Porrot explores Lake Michigan ; La Salle in Canada. 
French take formal possession of the north-west. 
Marquette founds St. Ignatius on Strait of Mackinac. 

Marquette and his companions leave Mackinac to seek the 

Mississippi. 
Marquette and his companions cross from Fox river to Wiscon- 
sin. 
Marquette and his companions reach Mississippi. 
Marquette and his companions meet Illinois Indians. 
Marquette and his companions reach Arkansas. 
Marquette and his companions leave on return to Canada. 
September, Marquette and his companions reach Green Bay. 

1675. May 18, Marqaette dies. 

La Salle goes to France to see the King. 

1676. Returns and rebuilds Fort Frontenac. 

1677. La Salle visits France a second time. , . 



1543. 


July, 




1544. 






1616. 






1630. 






1634. 






1641. 






1660. 






1G64. 






1665. 






1668. 






1670. 






1671. 






£673. 


May 


13, 




June 


10, 




June 


17, 




June 


21, 




July, 






July 


17, 



Mil CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

1678. July 14, La Salle and Tonti sail for Canada; Sept. 15, arrive at Quebec. 
Nov. 18, La Salle and Touti cross Lake Ontario. 

1679. January, La Salle loses his stores. 

Auguit 7, The Griffin sails up Lake Erie; 27th, at Mackinac. 

1679. Sept. 18, The Griffin sent back to Niagara. 

Nov. 1, La Salle at St. Joseph's river, Lake Michigan. 

Dec. 3, La Salle crosses to Kankakee. 

1G80. Jan. 4, La Salle in Peoria Lake; Fort Crevecocur built. 

Feb. 2S, Hennepin sent to explore the Upper Mississippi. 
March, La Salle returns to Canada. 

ApriliScMay, Hennepin on the Upper Mississippi. 
September, Tonti after commencing Fort St. Louis (Rock fort,) forced to 

leave the Illinois. 
Oct.&Nov. La Salle returns to the Illinois. 
November, Hennepin returns to Canada and Europe. 

1681. June, La Salle and Tonti meet at Mackinac. 
August, La Salle a third time goes to the Illinois. 
Nov. 3, La Salle at St. Joseph's again. 

1682. Jan. 5 or 6, La Salle goes from Chicago westward. 
February 6, La Salle on banks of the Mississippi. 
Feb. 13. La Salle descends Mississippi. 

March 6, La Salle discovers mouths of INIississippi and takes possession. 
September, La Salle returns to St. Joseph's of Michigan. 

1683. Dec. 13, La Salle reaches France. 

1684. July 24, La Salle sails from France for mouth of Mississippi. 

Sept. 20, La Salle reaches St. Domingo. 

Nov. 25, La Salle sails from St. Domingo for mouth of Mississippi. 

Dec 28, La Salle discovers the main land. 

The Iroquois place themselves under England. 

1635. January, La Salle in the Gulf of Mexico. 

February 4, La Salle sends pariy onshore to go eastward for mouth of Mis- 
sissippi. 

Feb. 13, La Sal'.e reaches Matagorda Bay. 

March 15, La Salle left in Te.xas, by Beaujeu. 

July, Attempts to build a Fort, and is unfortunate, and his men sick 

and die. 

December, La Salle goes to look for INHssissippi. 

1636. March, La Salle returns to Matagorda Bay. 

April, La Salle goes again to seek the Mississippi, and find a route to 

Canada. 
April, Tonti goes down Mississippi to meet La Salle. 

August, La Salle returns unsuccessful. 

1687. Jan. 12, La Salle leaves for Mississippi the third time. 

March 15, La Salle sends men to look for stores. 

March 17, La Salle follows and is killed by those men. 

May, His murderers quarrel ; seven go on toward Mississippi. 

July 24, The seven reach the Arkansas. 

Sept. 14, The siven reach Fort St. Louis on Illinois river. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. DC 

1G88. La Hontan's travels to the "Long river." — [Doub'.ful.] 

1693. Bofore tliis time Gravier, the founder of Kaskaskia, was among 

. the Illinois. 

Kaskaskia founded, dato unknown. 

Cahokia founded, date unknown. 

Peoria a trading post. 

1698. Oct. 17, D'Iberville leaves France for Mississippi. 

Dr. Coxe sends two vessels to the Mississippi. 

1699. Jan. 31, D'lberville in Bay of Mobile. 
March 2, D'lberville enters Mississippi. 

D'lberville returns to France. 
September, Bienville sounds Missisippi and meets English. 

1700. January, D'lberville returns from France. 

D'lberville goes up the Mississippi. 

D'lberville sends Le Sueur for copper to Upper Mississippi. 

M. St. Dennis explored Red river. 

1701. De la Motte Cadillac founds Detroit. 
D'lberville founds colony on Mibile river. 
Iroquois again place themselves under England. 

1703. Settlement on Washita. 

St. Dennis in Te.\as and the Presidie. 

1705. Missouri river explored to Kauzas. 

1707. First grant of land at Detroit. 

1708. D'Artaguette in Louisiana. 

1710. Governor Spotswood of Virginia explores the Alleghanies. 

1712. Louisiana granted to Crozat. 

1714. Fort Rosalie commenced. 

171G. St. Dennis in possession of Texas. , 

1717. Crozat resigns Louisiana. 

September, Louisiana trade granted to Company of West. 

1718. Colonists sent to Louisiana, and New Orli?aus laid out. 
Fort Chartres commenced. 

1719. Company of the West made Company of the Indies. 
La Harpe builds a Fort in Texas. 

Renault leaves France for Illinois. 
Fort Chartres finished. 

1720. January, Law made minister of finance. 

April, Stock of Company of the Indies worth 2059 per cent. 

May, Company of Indies bankrupt. 

Renault arrives in Illinois, and sends out mining parties. 

Mine La Motte discovered. 

Spanish invasion of the Missouries from Santa Fe, defeated 
and destroyed. 

La Harpe explores Washita and Arkansas rivers. 

1722. Charlevoix visits Illinois. 

1726. Iroquois a third lime place themselves under England. 

1729. Nov. 28, French among the Natchez murdered. 

1730. Jan. &Feb., The Natchez conquered and destroyed. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1731. 
1732. 
1735. 

1736. May, 
May 20, 
May 27, 

1739. 

1740. March, 

1742. 

1744. 



1743. 



1749. 



1750. 

17J1. ii 

1752. 

June, 

1753. May, 
June, 

August, 
Septembtr, 

October, 

Nov. 15, 
Nov. 22, 
Dec. 4, 
Dec. II, 
!754. Jan. G, 

April, 
April, 
April 17, 
May, 

June, 
July, I. 
October, 



Previous to this, Gov. Keith wishes West secured to England. 
Company of Indies resign Louisiana to King. 
Vincennes settled according to some, (see pp. G6-G3. ) 
Daniel Boone born. 

Expedition of Frencli against Chickasaws. 

D'Artaguette conquered. 

Bienville fails in assault on Chickasaws and retreats. 

French collect to attack Chickasaws. 

Peace between French and Cliickasaws. 

John Howard goes down Ohio. 

Treaty of Englisliand Iroquois at Lancaster. 

Vaudreuil fears English influence in West. 

Renault returns to France. 

Chickasaws attack French post on Arkansas. J] 

Conrad Weiser sent to Ohio. 

Ohio Company formed. 

Grant of land to Loyal Company. " 

Celeron sent to bury medals along Ohio. 

English Fort built on Great Miami. 

English traders seized on Maumee. 

P'orty vessels at New Orleans. 

Dr. Walker explores Kentucky. 

Christopher Gist explores Oliio and Great Miami. 

French build Forts on Frencli creek. 

French attack English post on Great JNIiami. 

Treaty of Logstown. 

Famiii s settle west of Alleghanies. 

Penns^ Ivania Assembly informed of French movements. 

Commissioner sent to warn French. 

Trent sent with arms for friendly Indians. 

Colonies authorized to resist French by force. 

Treaty of Winchester. 

Treaty with Iroquois ordered by England. 

Treaty of Carlisle. 

Ohio Company open line of ''Braddock's road.'^ 

Washington leaves Will's creek for Ohio. 

Washington reaches Monongahela. 

Washington reaches Venango. 

Wasliington reaches French Commander. 

Washington returns to Will's creek. 

Troops called out by Virginia. 

French Fort at Venango finished. 

Virginia troops moving westward. 

Fort at Iho Forks of Ohio taken by French. 

Washington crosses Alleghanies and attacks and kills Jumon- 

ville and his party. 
New York sends £5000 to Virginia. 

Washington at Fort Necessity, which capitulates the third. 
Washington retires to Mount Vernon. 
French hold the whole West. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



XI 



1755. January, 

Feb. 20, 
April, 
April 20, 
May 20, 
July 8, 

1756. January, 

April, 

May, 

September, 



1757 

1758. 



France proposes a compromise. ■ 

Brad do k liinds in Virginia. 

France and England send flests to America. 

Braddock mari lies westward. 

Expedition against Nova Scotia leaves Boston. 

Braddock reaches Monouj.a!iela, defeated the 9th, and died 

the 13th. 
Lewis commands an exj edition against the Ohio Indians, and 
fails. 

Indians fill the Valley of Virginia. 
War declared between France and England. 

Armstrong attacks Indians at Kittaning. 
First treaty of Easton. 

Massacre of Fort William Henry. 

Pitt returns to office. 

Louisburg and Fort Frontenac taken. 

Post leaves for the Oiiio river to conciliate the Indians. 
August 24, Post confers with Indians at Fort Pitt. 
Sept. 21, Grant defeated. 

Washington opening a road over the mountains. 

Washington at Loyalhanna. 

Washington at Fort Du Quesne, which the French left on the 
24th. 

Second treaty of E^iston. 

Pest's second mission to Ohio Indians. 



June 29, 
July 15, 



October, 
Nov. 5, 
Nov. 25, 



1759. 



1760. Sept. 8, 



Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara, and Quebec yield to Eng- 
lish. 



The French yield Canada. 

Cherokee War. 

General Monkton treats with the Indians at Fort Pitt for land. 

Settlers go over the mountains. 

Rogers goes to Detroit ; reaches it the lOth November ; returns 

across Ohio to Fort Pitt in December. 
Alexander Henry visits north-west. 
Christian Post goes to settle on the Muskingum. 

Bouquet warns settlers off of Indian lands. 

Post and Heckewelder go to Muskingum. 

PreliminariBs to peace of Paris settled, Loaisiana transferred 
to Spain. 

Treaty of Paris concluded. C ^ 

Detroit attacked by Pontiac. 

Mackinac taken by Indians. 

Presqu'ile (Erie) taken by Indians. 
June to Aug. Fort Pitt besieged and relieved by Bouquet. 
October, Proclamation to protect Indian lands. 

Nov. 3, M. Laclede arrives inSte. Genevieve; and Fort Chartres. 

1764. Feb. 15, St. Louis founded. 

June to Aug. Bradstreet makes peace with northern Indians. 

November, Bouquet makes peace with Ohio Indians. 

April 21, French officers ordered to give up Louisiana to Spain. 



Sept. 13, 
1761. 

1762. 

Nov. 3, 

1763. Feb. 10, 
May 9, 
June 4, 
June, 



XII CHROXOLOGICAL TABLE, 

1765. April, Sir Wm. Johnson makes treaty at German Flats. 

May &,Juue, George Croglian goes westward. 

Captain Stirling for England takes possession of Illinois. 

Proclamation of Governor Gage. 
17C6. Settlers cross mountains. 

Walpole Company proposed. 

Colonel James Smith visits Kentucky. 
1767. Western Indians grow impatient. 

Franklin labors for Walpole Company. 

Finley visits Kentucky. 

Zeisberger founds mission on the Alleghany. 

17G8. Oct. 24, Treaty of Fort Stanwix by which the title of the Iroquois to 

all south of the Ohio is purchased. 

Captain Pitman in Illinois. 

1769. March, Mississippi Company proposed. 
May 1, Boone and others start for Kentucky. 
June 7, Boone and others reach Red river. 
Dec. 22, Booiie taken by Indians. 

1770. October, Treaty of Lochaber. 

Ohio Company merged in Walpole Company- 
Washington visits the West. 
The Long Hunters explore the West. 
The Zanes found Wheeling. 
Moravians invited to Big Beaver. 
Spain obtains possession of St. Louis and Upper Louisiana. 

1771. .March, The Booues return to North Carolina. 

1772. Indians killed by whites on Lower Kenawha. 

May 3, Moravians invited by Delawarcs, found Shoenbrun on the Mus- 

kingum. 
April, General Gage's proclarnilion against settlers on Wabash. 

Fort Charlres evacuated. 

1 1 73. Sept. 25, Boone and others start to settle Kentucky. 

Oct. 10, Boone and others are attacked by Indians and turn back. 

Bullitt, McAfee, Stc, descend the Ohio. 

Bullitt, McAfee, &.c., survey at Falls, and on Kentucky river. 
General Thompson surveys in the valley of the Licking. 
General Lyman goes to Natchez. 
1 ' '•^- James Ilarrod in Kentucky. 

January, Dunmore sends Connolly to take possession of Pittsburgh as 

being within Virginia. 
Jan. 25, Connolly calls out the militia ; he is arrested by St. Clair; his 

followers are riotous, and fire on the Indians. 
March 28, Connolly, released on parole, comes to Pittsburgh with an arm- 
ed force. 
lie rebuilds the Fort and calls it Fort Dunmore. 
April 16, Cherokees attack a boat on the Ohio. 
April 21, Connolly writes to the settlers to beware of the Indians. 
Cresap, having Connolly's letter, attacks Indians. 
Greathouse murders several Indians. 
Preparations for war. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



xni 



1774. Logan revenges his family. 

June, Boone sent for surveyors in Kentucky. 

June 10, Friendly Shawanese attacked by Connolly. 

Traders murdered. 
July, McDonald attacks Wappatomica. 

Sept. 6&J12, Troops under Lewis march down Kenhawa. 
Oct. 6, Troops under Lewis reach Point Pleasant. 

Oct. 10, Battle of Point Pleasant. 

November, Dunmore makes peace. 

1775. March 17, Treaty of VVataga ; purehase by Transylvania Company. 
April 1, Boone goes to Kentucky and founds Boonesboro'. 

April 20, Henderson reaches Boonesboro'. 

May 23, Henderson calls representatives together. 

May 27, Legislature adjourns. 

April, Massachusetts Council try to prevent hostility by Iroquois. 

May, Guy Johnson influences Iroquois against Americans. 

June 28, Oneidas and Tuscaroras adhere to America. 

June, Boones family and several others reach Kentucky. 

July, Congress forms three Indian Departments. 

August, Meeting of Commissioners and Indians at Albany. 

October, Meeting of Commissioners and Indians at Pittsburgh. 
Connolly arrested in Maryland. 

1776. April 29, An attack on Detroit proposed in Congress. 

April 19, Washington advises the employment of the Indians. 

May, Indians incline to British. 

June 3, Congress authorizes the employment of Indians. 

July 7, to 21, Indians attack Kontuckians ; settlers leave- 
George Rogers Clark in Kentucky. 

June 6, Kentuckians petition Virginia for admission as citizens, and 

choose Clark and Jones members of Virginia Assembly. 

August 23, Clark procures powder from Council of Virginia. 

Dec. 7, Virginia admits Kentucky among her counties. 

Clark and Jones return by Pittsburgh with powder. 

Dec. 25, Jones killed while going for powder to Limestone. 

Clark reaches Harrodsburg. 

1777. Summer, Cornstalk murdered at Point Pleasant. 

Congress of Indians and British at Oswego. 
Spring, Kentucky infested with savages. 

April, K^ntucky chooses Burgesses. 

May, Logan's station attacked. 

April 20 to June 22, — Clark's spies in Illinois. 
August, Logan crosses the mountains for powder. 

Colonel Bowman and 100 men come from Virginia. 
Sep.26&27,Fort Henry (Wheeling) attacked. 
September, First Court at Harrodsburg. 
Oct. 1, Clark leaves for Virginia. 

October, Brady and party attpck St. Joseph. 

Nov. 20, The attack on Detroit urged in Congress. 

Dec. 10, Clark opens his plan for conquering Illinois to Governor of 

Virginia. 



XIV CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

1778. January 2, Orders issued to (^lark to attack Illinois. 
February 7, Boone taken prisoner at iLe Licking. 
March 10, Boone carried lo Detroit. 
June 24, Clark passes Falls of Ohio. 
Juae 16, Bjone escapes and relieves Boonesboro' 
May, Mcintosh commands at Fo;tPitt. 

Fort Mclniosh built. 
June 25, New Jersey objects to land claims of Virginia. 
July 4, Clark takes Kaskaskia. 

Cahokia joins the Americans. 
Aug. 1, St. Vincents joins the American cause. 

Aug. i, Boone goes to attack Faint creek town. 

Aug. 8, Boonesboro' besieged. 

Fort Laurens built. 
September, Clark holds council with the Indians. 
Sept. 17, Treaty with Dela wares at Pittsburgh. 

Maize and party attack St. Joseph. 
October, Virginia grants Henderson atid Company 200,000 acres on 

Green river. 
December, Governor Ilaniilton takes Viucennes. 

1779. January 29, Clark hoars of capture of Vincennes. 
January, Delaware objects to land claims of Virginia. 
Feb. 7, Clark's campaign against Viucennes. 

Feb. 24, Hamilton surrenders the Fort and is sent to Virginia. 

April 1, Americans suspect and attack Iroquois. 

Lexington, Kentucky, settled. 

May, Virginia passes land laws. 

May 21, Maryland objects to land claims of Virginia. 

July, General Sullivan devastates Iroquois country. 

July, Bowman's expedition against Indian towns on Miamies. 

August, Fort Laurens abandoned. 

September, Indians treat with Broadhead at Fort Pitt. 

October, Rogers and Benliam attacked by Indians. 

Oct. 13, Land Commis.-iouersopen their sessions in Kentucky. 

Oct. 30, Congress asks Virgin! i to reconsider land laws. 

Colonel John Todd iu I.linois. 

1780. Hard winter — great sufTering. 

Feb. 19, New York authorizes a cession of western lands. 

S,iri(ig, Fort Jefferson built on Mississippi. 

Spring, Great emigraiiou to Kentucky. 

May, Vi-ginia grants lauds in Kentucky for education. 

May, St. Louis attacked by British and Indians. 

Louisville established by law. 

June, Byrd invades Kentucky. 

July, Clark attacks Shawanese. 

Sept. 6, Resolution of Conjrress relative to western lands. " 

Coniiec'iicut p;isses first act of c e^iiou of western reserve. 

October, Fori Pitt threatened by srtvagfs. 

November, Kentucky divided into three counties. 

December, Clark prepares to attack Detroit. 

1781. Jan. 2, Virginia makes her first act of cession. 



CHRONOLOGECAL TABLE. 



XV 



1781. Feb. 15, Mr. Jay instructed that he may yield the navigation of the Mis- 

sissippi. 
March I, New York cedes her western lands. 

Brodhead attacks Delawares on Muskingum. 
April 16, Mary Heckewelder born ; first white child in Ohio. 
Americans begin to settle in Illinois. 
Chickasaws attack Ftrt Jefferson. 
September, Colonel Floyd rescued by Wells. 
September, Moravians carried to Sandusky by British and Indians. 
October, Moravian Missionaries taken to Detroit. 

Willidmscn leads a party against the Moravians, but finds the 

town deserted. 
Kentucky organized. 

1782. March, Moravians murdered by Americans. 
March, Moravian missionaries taken to Detroit. 
March 22, Estil's defeat, 

June, Crawford's expedition, taken prisoner and burnt. 

Aug. 14, Attack on Bryant's station. 

Aug. 19, Battle of the Blue Licks. 

September, Clark invades the Miami valleys the second time. 

November, Land Offices opened. 

Nov. 30, Provisional articles of peace with Great Britain. 

1783. Jan. 20, Hostilities of United States and Great Britain cease. 
March, Kentucky formed into one district. 

April 18, Congress calls on States to cede lands. 
April l9, Peace proclaimed to the army. 

English propose to carry away negroes. 
May, Washington protests against course of English. 

June, Rufus Putnam applies for lands in west. 

July 12, Baron Steuben sent to receive western posts. 
August, Cassaty sent to Detrint. 

Virginia withdraws Clark's commission. 
Sept. 3, Definitive treaty of peace. 

Sept. 7, Washington writes to Duane about western lands. 

Sept. 13, Congress proposes terms of cession to Virginia. 
Sept. 22, Congress forbids all purchases of Indian lands. 
Oct. 15, Congress instructs Indian Commissioners. 

Virginia grants Clark and his soldiers lands. 
Nov. 25, Briiish leave New York taking negroes. 

Daniel Brodhead opens a store in Louisville. 
Dec. 20, Virginia authorizes cession on terms proposed. 

1784. Jan. 4, Treaty of peace ratified by United States. 
February, James Wilkinson goes to Lexington, Kentucky. 
March 1, Virginia gives deed of cession. 

March 4, Indian Commissioners reinstructed. 

Pittsburgh re-surveyed. 
April 9, Treaty of peace ratified by England. 

June 22, Virginia refuses to comply with treaty. 
Juh'i England refuses to deliver up western posts. 

Oct. 22, Treaty with Iroquois al Fort Stanwix. 



XVI 



CHRO.NOLOGICAL TABLE. 



Logan calls meeting at Danville. 
Dec. 27, First Kentucky Convention meets. 

Kentucky receives many emigrants. 

1785. Jan. 21, Treaty with Delawares, &;e., at Fort Mcintosh. 
April, An attempt to settle at mouth of Scioto.^- 

May 20, Ordinance for survey of western lands passed. 
May 23, Second Kentucky Convention meets. 
July, Don Gardoqui comes from Spain. 

Augusts, Third Kentucky Convention meets. 

Colony emigrates from Virginia to Illinois . 

August, Indians threaten liostility. 

Great confederacy of north-western Indians formed by Brant. 

Fort Harmar built. 



1766. January, 
January, 
Jan 10, 
Jan. 31, 

March I, 
May, 16, 

May, 
May 26, 
June 30, 
July 29, 
August, 



Sept. 14, 
October, 8, 
November, 

November, 
Dec. 22, 

. January, 
March 8, 
May, 
June, 
July, 

-July 27, 
July 13, 
July, 

August .18, 
August 29, 

Sept. 17, 
Oct. 27, 
Oct. 2, 
Oct 
Oct. 5, 
Not. 23, 



1787 



Brant visits England to learn purposes of ministers. 

Virginia agrees to independence of Kentucky. 

Putnam and Tuppercall meeting to form Ohio Company. ,r 

Treaty with Shawanese at Fort Finney, (mouth of Great 

Miami.) 
Ohio Company of associates formed. 

Governor of Virginia writes to Congress respecting Indian in- 
vasions. 
The negotiations as to Mississippi before Congress. 
Resolution of Congrass produces cession by Connecticut. 
Congress authorizes the invasion of north-westeru territory. 
Pittsburgh Gazette first published. 
Mr. Jay authorized to yield navigation of Mi;sissippi for a term 

of years. 
Connecticut makes second act of cession. 
Clark seizes Spanish property at Vincenues. 
V^irginia protests against yieldiu"- navigation of Mississippi. 
Great dii;sati?faction in the vrest. 

Governor of Virginia informed as to Clark's movements. 
Great Indian Council in north-west ; they address Congress. 

Fourth Kentucky Convention meets. 
Ohio Company chooses Directors. 

Meeting in Kentucky relative to navigation of 3Iississippi. 
Wilkinson goes to New Orleans. 

Dr. Cutler negotiates with Congress for lands for Ohio Com- 
pany. 
Congress make order in favor of Ohio Company. 
Oriiiriance passed for government of north-western territory. 
Harry Innis refuses to prosecute invaders of Indian lands. 
Kentucky Gazette established. 
Symmea applies for land. 

Entries of Virginia Military Reserve, north of Ohio, begin. 
Fifth Kentucky Convention meets. 
Ohio Company completes contract for lands. 
Symmes' application referred to Board of Treasury. 
Troops ordered west. 

St. Clair appointed Governor of Horth-western territory. 
Preparations made by Ohio Company to send settlers west. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XVII 

1787. Nov. 2G, Symmes issMes proposals for settlers. 

December, John Brown, first western representative goes to Congress. 

1783. Summer, Indipns expected to make treaty at Marietta. 

Great emigration ; 4,500 persons pass Fort IJarmar. 
Jiinuary, Denman purcliases Cincinnati. 
Feb. 29, The admission of Kentuciiy debated in Congress. 

April 7, Ohio Company settlers Imd at Musiiingum. 

July 2, Marietta named. 

July 3, The admission of Kentucky refused by Congress. 

July 9, St. Clair reaches north-western territory. 

July2S, Sixth Kentucky Convention meets. 

July 25, First law of north-western territory published. 

Symmes starts for the west. 
August, Losantiville (Cincinnati) laid out. 

Sept. 2, First court held at Marietta. 

Sept. 22, Symmes reaches his purchase. 

Great Indian Council in north-west to forbid treaties with sepa- 
rate nations. 
Nov. 4, Seventh Kentucky Convention meets. 

Nov. 18, Columbia settled by Stites. 

Novembe", Dr. Connolly in Kentucky as a British agent. 
Dec. 24, The founders of Cincinnati leave Maysville. 

Dec. 28, Cincinnati reached according to McMillan. 

Dec. 29, Virginia passes third act to make Kentucky independent. 

George Morgan removes to New Madrid. 

1789. Jan. 9, Treaties of Fort Harmar concluded. 

Wilkinson goes to New Orleans again. 
Spring, Daniel Story, first teacher and preacher, in Ohio Company's 

purchase. 
June, Symmes' settlements threatened by Indians. 

June, Major Doughty arrives at Symmes' purchase and begins Fort 

Washington. 
July, Western scouts withdrawn by Virginia. 

July 29, Eighth Kentucky Convention meets. 

September, Governor Miro of New Orleans writes Sebastian. 
Sept. 29, Congress empowers President to call out western militia. 

Oct. 6, President authorizes Governor St. Clair to call out Mililia. 

Dec. 29, General Harmar reaches Cincinnati with 300 troops. 

1790. Jan, 1 or 2, Governor St. Clair at Cincinnati, which name is then given il. 
Spri'jg, St. Clairgoes west to Kaskaskia. 

April, Gamelin s;'nt to Wabash Indians. 

May, Indian hostilities take place. 

July 15, St. Clair calls out western militia. 

July 26, Ninth Kentucky Convention meets. 

Sept. 15, Troops gather at Fort Washington. 

Sept. 30, Harmar leaves Fort Washington. 

Oct. 15, Colonel Hardin with the advance reaches Miami villages. 

Oct. 17, Main army reaches Minmi villages. 

Oct. 18, Trotter goes after Indians. 

Oct. 19, Hardin's first defeat. 

Oct. 22, Hardin's second defeat. 



IVIII 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1790. December, Kentuckiana petition Congress to fight Indians in their own 

way. 
December, Admission of Kentucky to U. States brought before Congress. 
December, Massie and others contract to settle Manchester. 

1791. Jan. 2, Big Bot lorn settlement destroyed by Indians. 
Feb. 1, Congress agree lo admit Kentucky. 

IMarch 3, Excise laid on spirits. 

March 9, Scott of Kentucky authorized to march against Indians. 
March 12, Procter starts on his western mission. 

April 27, Procter reaches Buffalo creek. 

May 5, Procter is refused a vessel to cross Lake Erie. 

May 15, St. Clair at fort Washington preparing his expedition. 

May 21, Procter abandons his mission. 

May 23, Scott marches up VV abash. .^i^" 

July 27, Meeting at Brownsville agaiust excise. 

August I, Wilkinson marches against Eel river Indians. 

Sept. 6, Collector of Alleghany and Washington counties (Pennsylva- 
nia] attacked. 

Sept. 7, Meeting at Pittsburgh against excise. ' 

Sept. 17, St. Clair commences his march. 

Oct. 12, Fort Jefferson commenced. 

October, Wilson maltreated in we&t of Pennsylvania. 

Nov. 4, St. Clair's defeat. 

Nov. 8, The remainder of the army at Fort Washington. 

December, Convention elected to form Constitution for Kentucky. 

1792. Jan. 7, Peace offered by the United States to the Indians through the 

Senecas. 

Jan. 9, Pond and Stodman sent west. 

February, Brant mvlted to Philadelphia. 

Feb. 1, Wilkinson sends to field of St. Clair's defeat. 

Gallipohs settled. 

March, Iroquois chiefs visit Philadelphia. 

April 3, Instructions issued to Trueman. 

April 3, Kentucky Constitution prepared. 

May 8, Excise laws amended. 

May 8, Captain Ilendrick sent west. 

May 22, Instructions issued to Rufus Putnam. 

May 22, Trueman leaves Fort Washington — Hardin also. 

June, General Wayne moves westward. 

June 20, Brant visits Philadelphia. 

Fire lands given to sufferers, by Connecticut. 

July 7, Indians seize 0. M. Sjiencer, &c. 

Aug. 21, Great anti-excise meeting at Pittsburgh. 

Sept. 15, Washington issues proclamation on excise law. 

Sept. 27, R. Putnam makes a treaty at Vinccnnes. 

Nov. 6, Adair attacked near Fort St. Clair. 

Nov. C, Opposition to excise law diminishes. 

December, United States troops at Legiunville, on the Ohio. 

1793. March 1, Lincoln, Randolph and Pickering, appointed to treat with In- 

dians. 

April, United States Legion goes down to Cincinnati. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



XIX 



Q 



1793. April 8, Genet reaches United States. 
May 17, Commissioners reach Niagara. 
May 18, Genet is presented to Washington. 
May 30, First Democratic society in Philadelphia. 
June, Commissioners correspond with Covernor Simcoe. 
July 15, Commissioners meet Brant and hold a council. 

July 21, Commissioners at Elliott's house, mouth of Detroit river. 

July 31, Commissioners meet Indian delegates. 

Aug. 16, Final action of the Commissioners and Indians. 

Oct. 7, Wayne leaves Cincinnati with his legion. 

Oct. 13, Wayne encamps at Greenville. 

Oct. 24, Wayne is joined by Kentucklans under Scott. 

Oct. 17, Lowry and Boyd attacked. 

November, French emissaries sent west. 

Dec. 25, Field of St. Clair's defeat taken possession of by Wayne's 

troops. 

Dec. 25, Dissatisfaction in the west. 

1794. January, Whisky riots recommence. 
February, Lord Dorchester's speech to Indians. 
February, The Mingo Creek Association formed. 
Spring, Wayne prepares for his campaign. 

April, General Simcoe builds a Fort on the Maumee. 

April, Democratic society formed at Pittsburgh. 

May, Spaniards offer help to Indians. 

May, French emissaries forced to leave west. 

Summer, Contest respecting Presqu'isle. 

June 30, Indians attacked Fort Recovery. 

June, Suits commenced against whisky rioters. 

July 16, First gathering about Neville's house; burnt 17th. 

July 23, Meeting at Mingo Creek. 

July 26, Mull robbed by Bradford. 

July 26, Scott, with 1600 men, joins Wayne. 

Aug. 1, Great gathering at Braddock's field. 

Aug. 7, Washington issues proclamation against whisky rioters. 

Aug. 8, Wayne near Maumee. 

Aug. 13, Wayne sends his last peace message to Indians. 

Aug. 18, Wayne builds Fort Deposit. 

Aug. 20, Wayne meets and conquers Indians. 

Aug. 21, Commissioners of government meet committee of rioters. 

September, British try to prevent Indians making peace. 

Sept. 11, Vote taken upon obedience to the law in Pennsylvania. 

Sept. 25, Washington calls out militia. 

Sept. &Oct. Fort Wayne built. 

Dec. 28, Indians ask for peace of Colonel Hamtramck. 

1795. Jan. 24, Indians sign preliminaries of a treaty. 
Spring, Prisoners are interchanged. 

May, Connecticut prepares to sell her reserve. 

June 16, Council of Greenville opens. 

July, The Baron de Carondelet writes Sebastian. 

July, Jay's treaty formed. 

Aug. 3, Treaty of Greenville signed. 

Aug. 10, Council of Greenville closed. 



XX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

1795. August, Gram by Congress to Gallipolis settlers, 

Sept. 5 or 9, C<>nncciicut sells Western Reserve lo Land Company. 
Oct. 27, Pincknty concludes treaty wiihSpain. 

Nov. 4, Dayton laid out. 

*796. Chillicothe founded. 

M. Adet, French Minister, sends emissaries to disaffect the 

west to the Union. 
Sebastian visits the south-west. 
Sept. Cleveland laid out and naniod. 

July, British give up posts in north-west. 

August, Difficulties with Spain begin. 

August, General Wayne died. 

August, First paper mill in the west. 

1 '3'- Power visits Kentucky, and writes to Sebastian. 

Oct. Daniel Boone moves west of Miss-issippi. 

Oct. Occupying claimant law of Kentucky passed. 

1798. W. H. Harrison appointed Secretary of North-west territory. • 
Alien and sedition laws passed. 

Nullifying resolutions in Kentucky. 
Death abolished in Kentucky, except for murder. 
Dec. Representatives for north-west territory first chosen. 

1799. Feb. 4, Representatives of north-west territory meet lo nominate can- 

didates for Council. 
Feb. Kentucky Constitution amended. 

Sept. 24, Assembly of north-west territory or;:anizes at Cincinnati. 

Oct. 6, W. H. Harrison ajipoiuteJ Delegate in Congress for north- 

west territory. 

1800. May 7, Indiana territory formed. 

May 30, Connecticut yields jurisdiction of her reserve lo the U. States, 

and United Stales gives her putents for the soil. 
Oct. I, Treatyof St. Ildefonso. 

Nov. 3, Assembly of north-west territory meets at Chillicothe. 

Nov. 3, First missionary in Con leciicat Reserve. 

'^01- W. H. Harrison appointed Goveruor of Indiana territory. 

St. Clair re-appointed Governor of nortll-we^t territory. 
Cincinnati, in place of Chillicotlie, a;iuin made seat of govern- 
y^ ment for north-west territory. 

Dec. Thomas Worlhington goes lo Washington to procure the erec- 

tion of Ohio into a State. 
1802 January, University at Alliens, Ohio, established. 
January, First Bunk in Kentucky. 

April 30, Congress agree that Ohio may become a Slate. 
Oct. 16, The Spanish Intenduut forbids the use of New Orleans by the 

Americans. 
Nov. 1, Convention meets to form a Constitution for Ohio. 

Nov. 29, Constitution formed. 

1803. April, New Orleans opened lo Americans again. 

April, Livingston and Monroe in France — purchase Louisiana. 

April, Lands locitiedd for Miami University. 

April, Miami Exporting Company chartered. 

Oct. 21, The Senate ratify the purchase of Louisiana. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXI 

1803. Dec. 20, Louisiana given up to the Americans. 

1804. March 26, Territory of Orleans, & District of Upper Louisiana organized. 
May 14, Lewis and Clark start on their expedition. 

1805. Jan. 11, Michigan territory formed. 
.Tune 11, Detroit burned to the ground. 
June, Burr visits the west. 

June, General Assembly meet in Indiana territory. 

June, Tecumthe and the Prophet begin to influence the Indians. 

June, Steps taken to make National road. 

1806. July 29, Burr's letter to Wilkinson. 
Aug. Spaniards cross the Sabine. 
Aug. 21, Burr goes west; is at Pittsburgh. 
Sept. Lewis and Clark return from Oregon. 
Nov. Davies tries to arrest Burr. 

Dec. 6, Sebastian found guilty by Kentucky House of Representatives. 
Dec. 10, Burr's men go down the Ohio- 
Dec 14, Burr's boats and stores arrested. 

26, Burr meets his men at the mouth of the Cumberland. 

1807. Jan. 17, Burr yields to civil authority of Mississippi. 

Jan. Burr escapes, is seized, and tried at Richmond in May. 

May, Petition for slavery in Indiana. 

1808. Bank of Marietta chartered. 
Bank of Chillicoihe chartered. 

June, Tecumthe and the Prophet remove to Tippecanoe. 

1809. Illinois territory formed. 
Feb. 17, Miami University chartered. 

1810. Boone's Lick settled. 

July, C. Cole and others killed by Indians in Missouri. 

August, Meeting of Tecumthe and Harrison at Vincennes. 

181 1 . Company of rangers raised in Illinois. 
July, Tecumihe goes to the south. 

August, Harrison JJroposes to visit Indians. , 

Oct. Harrison marches toward Tippecanoe. 

First steamer (New Orleans) leaves Pittsburgh for Natchez 
and New Orleans. 

Nov. 7, Battle of Tippecanoe. 

Dec. 16, Great earthquakes begin. 

1812. June 1, General Hull marches from Dayton. 

June 28, British at Maiden hear of the declaration of war. 

July 1, Hull sends men and goods by water to Detroit. 

July 2, Hull hears of the declaration of war. 

July 12, Americans at Sandwich. 

July 17, Mackinac taken by the British. 

Aug. 7, Hull retires to Detroit. 

Aug. 13, Brock reaches Maiden. 

Aug. 14, Brock at Sandwich. 

Aug. 16, Brock before Detroit. 

Aug. 16, Hull surrenders. 

Aug. 15, Masfacre of troops near Chicago. 

Sept. 8, Fort Harrison attacked. 

Sept. 17, W. H. Harrison appointed Commander in north-west. 



XXII CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

1812. Oct. General Hopkins attacks the Indians on the Wabash. 
Oct. Governor Edwards attacks tlie Indians on the Illinois. 

Dec. Colonel Campbell attacks llie Indians on the Mississinneway. 

1813. Jan. 10, Winchester reaches the rapids of M«umee. 
Jan. IT, Sends troops to Frenchtown. 

Jan. 18, British at Frenchtown defeated. 

Jan. 22, Americans defeated at Frenchtown, with great loss. 

Jan. 23, Massacre of the wounded. 

Jan. 24, Harrison retreats to Portage river. 

Feb. 1, Harrison advances to Maumee, and builds Fort Meigs. 

April 28, Fort Meigs besieged. 

May 5, General Green Clay reaches Fort Meigs; Dudley's party lost. 

May 9, British return to Maiden. 

July 18, British fleet prepare to attack Erie. 

July 31, Fort Steplienson besieged, and bravely defended. 

Aug, 4, Perry's vessels leave Erie. 

Sept. 10, V^ictory by Perry, on Lake Erie. 

Sept. 27, American army at Maiden. 

Sept. 29, American army at Sandwich. 

Get. 5. Battle of the Thames, and Tecumtho killed. 

1814. Feb. Holmes's expedition into Canada. 
Feb. J. C. Symmes died. 

July, Expedition under Croghan against Mackinac. 

July, Fort Shelby, at Prairie du Chien, taken by the British. 

July 22, Treaty with Indians at Greenville. 

Oct. Si, Nov. McArthur's expedition into Canada. 

Dec. 24, Treaty of Ghent. 

1815. Various treaties with Indians. 
Feb. Ohio taxes the Banks. 

1816. March, Pittsburgh incorporated. 
March, Columbus made capitol of Ohio. 
Dec. Bank of Shawneetown chartered. 
Dec. General Banking Law of Ohio, passed. 
Dec. 11, Indiana admitted to the Union. 

1817. First steamboat at St. Louis. 
September, North-west of Ohio bought of Indians. 

Jan. &. Oct., U. States Bank opens branches in Cincinnati and Chillicothe. 

1818. Aug. 2G, Illinois becomes a State. 

1819. First steamboats on the Missouri. 
Military Post cstablishfd at Council BlufTs. 
Expodition to the Yellow Stone.' 

The first steamer on Lake Erie. 

September, Conte^^t of Ohio and the United States Bank. 

1820. December, Nullification resolutions of Ohio. 
Sept. Missouri forms a Constitution. 
May, Cass visits Lake Superior, &.c. 

1821. Aug. 12, Missouri received into itie Union by proclamation of President. 

1822. Jan. 31, Ohio moves in relation to canals. 
Jan. 31, Ohio moves in relation to schools. 

1823. Feb. 11, Illinois moves in relation to canals. 

1824. Slavery contest in Illinois. , 

1825. Feb. 4 iS:, 5, Ohio passes canal and school laws. 
1326. The first steamer on Lake Michigan. 
1827. Nov. 1. First seminary built and opened iu Illinois. 

1830. Treaty by Keokuk at Prairie du Chien. 

1831. Black Hawk b(\stile, and driven west of Mississippi. 

1832. First steamer at Chicago. 
February, Great flood in Ohio. 

May, Black Hawk war commenced. 

May 14, Stillman's defeat near Rock river. 

May 21, Indian creek settlement destroyed. 

July, Cholera among Scott's troops and along Lakes. 

July 21, Black Hawk defeated on Wisconsin. 

Aug. 2, Black Hawk defeated on Mississippi. 

Aug. 27, Blark Hawk delivered to iLiited States. 

Sept., Treaty with Indians. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXUI 

1832. Oct. Cholera at Cincinnati and along ilie Ohio. 

1833. First farming settlements in Iowa. 

July 20, Governor Edwards died at Belleville, Illinois. 

Cholera at St. Louis and throughout tlie Mississippi Valley. 
Mormon difficulties in Jackson county, Missouri. 
Indian treaty at Chicago. 

1834. Gazetteer of Illinois published at Jacksonville. 
Termination of various bank charters in Ohio. 

1835. Michigan forms a Constitution and makes application to join 

the Union. 
Congress proposes conditions. 

1836. State Bank of Illinois chartered. 
Michigan rejects the condiiioifs. 
Adopted in a second Convention. 

Territory of Wisconsin (including Iowa) organized. 
Illinois and Michigan canal commenced. 

1837. Michigan received into the Union. 

Internal Improvement System adopted in Illinois. 

Riots at Alton, III., and Lovejoy killed. 

State House of Missouri, at Jefferson City, burned. 

1838. July 4, Territory of Iowa organized. 

Mormon war in Missouri. 
Sept. I, Death of Governor William Clark. 

1839. ' Bank Commissioners appointed in Ohio. 

Mormons retreat to Illinois, locate at Commerce, and call it 

Nauvoo. 
Iowa City located and made the seat of government. 

1840. Great political excitement in the presidential canvas. 

1841. April 4, Death of W. H. Harrison, President of the United States, at 

Washington City. 
Canal, Internal Improvement System, and Banks in Illinois 

stopped. 
Great depression in financial affairs throughout the west. 

1842. Cincinnati Astronomical society founded. 

June 20, Death of General Henry Atkinson at Jefferson Barracks, Mis- 
souri. 

Aug. 15, Death of Hon. Mary P. Leduc, first Secretary of Upper Louis- 
iana, and an old citizen of St. Louis. 

May 14, Death of Hon. A. W. Snyder, Belleville, 111. 

Aug. 28, Death of Hon. J, B. C. Lucas, at St. Louis, aged 80. 

1843. Illinois Banks accept of an act by the Legislature and close 

their business. 
Corner stone of Cincinnati Observatory laid in November. 
Mormon troubles in Illinois. 

1844. Great flood on the Mississippi — American Bottom submerged. 
Steamboats went from St Louis to the Illinois bluffs. 
Mormon war in Illinois ; Joseph Smith, the leader, and others 

killed. 
State Constitution formed in Iowa; boundaries not approved by 

Congress. 
1345. Banking law of Oljio creating a State Bank and branches, and 

independent Banks passed. 
Illinois negotiates with bond-holders to finish canal. 

1846. Work on the Illinois canal resumed. 

Convention in Wisconsin form a State Constitution; rejected 
by the people. 

1847. Convention in Illinois form a new Constitution. 

1848. Constitution of Illinois adopted by the people, and went into 

operation. 
Wisconsin forms a new Constitution; approved by the people, 
and accepted by Congress. 

1849. Cholera on the western rivers, and in many cities and towns. 
Deaths from all diseases in St. Louis, 8,603; cholera, 4,800. 

May 17, Great fire: 23 steamboats, 400 buildings, and $2,750,000 worth 

of property burnt. 
Oct. 17, Great Convention iu St. Louis on Rail-road to the Pacific, 



ERRATA. 

In a book liko the "Annals," it is hardly possible, between authors, compositors and 
proof readers, to avoid some typographical errors. The most frequent that occurs in thig 
work, are misplacing the brackets, intended to distinguish the composition of the Editor 
from that of Mr. Perkins. 
Page 29, Nicholas Parrot, should be Perrot. 

37, A part of the last paragraph should have been in brackets. 

47, The asterisk after " Hidden River," should be out. 

66, Read, "all was «ri7Z iciM except those little spots." 

70, Third paragraph, read 1752 for 7732. 

71, A bracket after second paragraph. 

133, The brackets in the middle of the page should be out. 

134, Brackets out at close of first paragraph. 

142, Third paragraph read " a few days after that in the boat," instead, "after that 
at Captina." 

1C7, Put a bracket at close of the page. 

171, A bracket should be out at the commencement of paragraph second. 

187, A bracket should be at close of the chapter. 

201, A bracket should be at close of first paragraph. 

209, A bracket at close of the page. 

509, Chickasaw Bluffs in line 15 from the top, should be Iron Banks situated a few 
miles below the junction of Ohio and Mississippi rivers. 

261, A bracket should follow asterisk, after last paragraph. 

311, A bracket after third paragraph. 

349, A bracket after third paragrai>h. 

399, A bracket after first paragraph. 

447, A bracket after first paragraph. 

504, A bracket should he out at first paragraph. 

527, The date should be 1S03, instead of 1793. 

634, A bracket at close of th6 page. 

509, A bracket at the close of last paragraph but one. 

570, Bracket should be left out at the end of second paragraph, after "Illinois." 

574, 575, The captions over these pages are wrong. " Organization of Illinois Terri- 
tory," is found on pp. 676, 577. 

577, A bracket is wanting at the close of fourth paragraph. " Fort Wayne, August 
7, 1818, in some copies should be 1810. 

595, The bracket should be left out at the commencement of the paragraph. 

602, "Fort Wayne" should read "Sandwich," at the 13th lino from bottom. 

616, In third paragraph after Cahokia, read Creek, 

619, The bracket should be put at the close of the last of last paragraph. 

636, The caption is wrong. It belongs to page 633. 

643, The bracket at the end of first paragraph, should be left out. 

709, 711, and 713. The captions over these pages should be " Sketches of Indian His- 
tory." 

744, "Cape au Gris," should be Cape au Ores. It was so called from the gray rock 
there. 

795, Second paragraph read "Sauteaurs." 

796, In third paragraph, read retailed for "retained this story of Black Hawk." 



ANNALS OF THE WEST. 



CHAPTER I. 

SPANISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES, A. D. 1512 TO 1750, 

Discovery of Florida — De Soto's Expedition and Discovery of the Mississippi — Marquette 
and Joliet's Expedition — Enterprise of La Salle — Visit to Illinois — Fort Crcvecoeur — 
Hennepin's voyage up the Mississippi — La Salle's Expedition down the Mississippi to the 
Gulf— "Proces Verbal" — Returns to Illinois and starts to France — La Salle returns 
to the Gulf of Mexico — Discovers and takes possession of Texas — His Assassination — 
Tonti's Achievements — La Hontan — Kaskaskia Founded — D'lbberv'ille'a Voyage — Grant 
to Crozat — Mississippi Company — ^New Orleans Founded — The Natchez Extermination — 
War with the Chickasaws — Mississippi Valley in 1760. 

In the year 1512, on Easter Sunday, the Spanish name for 
which is Pascua Florida,* Juan Ponce de Leon, an old com- 
rade of Columbus, discovered the coast of the American con- 
tinent, near St. Augustine; and, in honor of the day, as well 
as because of the blossoms which covered the trees along the 
shore, named the new-found country Florida. Juan had been 
led to undertake the discovery of strange lands, partly by the 
hope, common to all his countrymen at that time, of finding 
endless stores of gold, and partly by the wish to reach a fountain 
that was said to exist, deep within the forests of North America,, 
which possessed the power of renovating the life of those who 
drank of, or bathed in, its waters. In return for his discovery 
he was made Governor of the region he had visited, but various 
circumstances prevented his return thither until 1521, and then 
he went only to meet with death at the hands of the Indians. 

In the mean time, in 1516, a roving Spanish sea captain,. 
Diego Miruelo, had visited the coast first reached by Ponce de 
Leon, and in his barters with the natives had received con- 
siderable quantities of gold, with which he returned home, and. 
spread abroad new stories of the wealth hidden in the Interior. 

*Pascua, the old English "Pasch" or Passover ; "Pascua Florida" is the "Holy-day of 
Flowers." 

2 



26 Discover!/ of Florida. 1622. 

Ten years, however, passed before Pamphilo de Narvaez 
undertook to prosecute the examination of the lands north of the 
Gulf of Mexico; the shores of which, during the intervening 
years, had been visited and roughly surveyed. Narvaez was 
excited to action by the late astonishing success of the conqueror 
of Montezuma, but he found the gold for which he sought, fly 
constantly before him ; each tribe of Indians referred him to 
those living still farther in the interior, and from tribe to tribe 
he and his companions wandered, weary and disappointed, 
during six months; then, having reached the shore again, naked 
and famished, they tried to regain the Spanish colonies ; but of 
three hundred only four or five at length reached Mexico. And 
still these disappointed wanderers persisted in their original 
fancy that Florida* was as wealthy as Mexico or Peru; and 
after all their wanderings and sufferings so told the world. f 

Among those to whom this report came, was Ferdinand de 
Soto, who had been with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and 
who longed for an opportunity to make himself as rich and noted 
as the other great Captains of the day. He asked leave of the 
King of Spain to conquer Florida at his own cost. It was given 
in 1638; with a brilliant and noble band of followers, he left 
Europe; and in May 1539, after a stay in Cuba, anchored his 
vessels near the coast of the Peninsula of Florida, in the bay of 
Spiritu Santo, or Tan) pa bay .J 

*By Florida the Spaniards in early times meant at least all of North America south of 
the Great Lakes, 
■f For facts in relation to Florida see Bancroft's Ilist. U. S., Vol. I. 
J The originul authorities in relation to De Soto, are an anonymous Portugnese ■writer, a 
gentleman of Elvas, who claims to have been an eye-witness of what he relates; and 
Louis Hernandez de Biedma, who was also with the expedition, and presented bis account 
to the Spanish King in 1544. "Wc have also a letter from De Soto, to the authorities of 
the city of Santiago, in Cuba, dated July 9, 1539. These authorities in the main agree, 
though the Portuguese account is much the fullest, and the Governor's letter of course 
relates but few events. The Portuguese narrative was published in 1557 ; Ilakluyt gave it 
in English in 1609, and it was again published in London in 16SG; a French tran^^lation 
appeared in Paris in 1685. Its credibility is questioned. See Sparks in Butler's Kentucky, 
2d Ed. 49S; also, Bancroft's U. S.I; 66. note. The account by Biedma and De Soto's 
letter are; in a work published in Paris, called "Voyages, Relations ct Memoires originaux 
povr levir a I'hutoire de decouverte de I'Amcriqiie." One volume of this collection relates 
to Florida, and appeared in 1811. We have epitomised the account as giTcn by Bancroft 
in his first volume. 

Note by the Ed. — There is a narrative by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, in Spanish, written 
a few years after the return of De Soto's companions and while they were living. From 
this and the other work mentioned above, Theodore Irving, Esq., while in Madrid, a few 
years since compiled his "Conquest of Florida," in two volumes 12 mo. Much of it ap- 
pears like romance, but the whole expedition of De Soto was romance in reality, though a 
bistorioal fact. 



1542, Be Solo's Expedition. 27 

De Soto entered upon his march into the interior with a deter- 
mination to succeed. He liad brought with him all things that 
it was supposed could be needful, and that none might be 
tempted to turn back, he sent away his vessels. From June till 
November, of 1539, the Spaniards toiled along until they reached 
the neighborhood of Appalachee bay, finding no gold, no foun- 
tain of youth. During the next season, 1540, they followed the 
course suggested by the Florida Indians, who wished them out 
of their country, and going to the north-east, crossed the rivers 
and climbed the mountains of Georgia. De Soto was a stern, 
severe man, and none dare to murmur. Still finding no cities 
of boundless wealth, they turned westward, towards the waters 
of the Mobile, and following those waters, in October (1540,) 
came to the town of Mavilla on the Alabama, above the junction 
of the Tombecbee. This town the Europeans wished to occupy, 
but the natives resisted them, and in a battle which ensued, the 
Indians were defeated. 

Finding himself, notwithstanding his victory, exposed to con- 
stant attacks from the red men at this point, De Soto resumed his 
march towards the Mississippi, and passed the winter, probably, 
near the Yazoo. In April 1541, once more the resolute Spaniard 
set forward, and upon the first of May reached the banks of the 
Oreat River of the West, not far from the 35th parallel of lati- 
tude.* A month was spent in preparing barges to convey the 
horses, many of which still lived, across the rapid stream. Hav^ 
ing successfully passed it, the explorers pursued their way north- 
ward, into the neighborhood of New Madrid ; then turning west- 
ward again, marched more than two hundred miles from the 
Mississippi to the highlands of White river. And still no gold, 
no gems, no cities; only bare prairies, and tangled forests, and 
deep morasses. To the south again they toiled on, and passed 
their third winter of wandering upon the Washita. In the fol- 
lowing spring (1642,) De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, 
descended the Washita to its junction with the Mississippi, wish- 
ing to learn the distance and direction of the sea. He heard, 
when he reached the mighty stream of the West, that its lower 
portion flowed through endless and uninhabitable swamps. — 
Determined to learn the truth, he sent forward horsemen; in 
eight days they advanced only thirty miles. The news sank 

*De Soto probably was at the lower Chickasaw Bluffs. The Spaniards called the Missis- 
sippi, Rio Grande, Great River, which is the literal meaniDg of the aboriginal name.-ED. 



28 Death of De Soto. 1643. 

deep into the stout heart of the disappointed waiTJor. His men 
and horses were wasting around him : the Indians near by 
challenged him, and he dared not meet them. . His health yielded 
to the contests of his mind and the influence of the climate ; he 
appointed a successor, and upon the 21st of May died. His 
body was sunk in the stream of the Mississippi. 

Deprived of their energetic, though ruthless, leader, the Span- 
iards determined to try to reach Mexico by land. They turned 
West again therefore, and penetrated to the Red river, wander- 
ing up and down in the forests, the sport of inimical Indians. 
The Red river they could not cross, and jaded and heartless, 
a^ain thev went eastward, and reached in December 1542, the 

o • 

great Father of Waters once more. Despairing of success in 
the attempt to rescue themselves by land, they proceeded to pre- 
pare such vessels as they could to take them to sea. From 
January to July 1543, the weak, sickly band of gold-seekers, 
labored at the doleful task; and in July reached, in the vessels 
thus wrought, the Gulf of Mexico, and by September, entered 
the river Panuco. One-half of the six hundred* who had dis- 
embarked with De Soto, so gay in steel and silk, left their bones 
among the mountains and in the morasses of the South, from 
Georgia to Arkansas. 

Such was the first expedition by Europeans, into the great 
Western Valley of North America. They founded no settle- 
ments, left no traces, produced no effect unless to excite the 
hostility of the red against the white men, and to dishearten such 
as might otherwise have tried to follow up the career of dis- 
covery to better purpose. As it was, for more than a century 
after the expedition oi De Soto, the West remained utterly 
unknown to the whites. In 1616, four years before the Pilgrims 
"moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, 
a French Franciscan, had penetrated through the Iroquois and 
Wyandotsf to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 
1634, two Jesuits had founded the first mission among the rivers 
and marshes of the region east of that great inland sea ; but it 
was 1641, just one hundred years after De Soto reached the 

* De Bicdma says there landed 620 men. 

ITho Wyanduts are the same as the Hurons. Ilcckewelder's Karr. 336, note . sec their 
traditionarj- history by J. Badger, a Missionary among them.— Cist's Cincinnati Miscel- 
lany I. 153. 



1671. Marquette and Joliet. 29 

Mississippi, that the first Canadian envoys met the savage nations 
of the North-west, at the Sault cle Ste. Marie,* below the outlet 
of Lake Superior. This visit, however, led to no permanent 
result, and it was not till 1659 that even any of the adventurous 
fur traders spent a winter on the frozen and inhospitable shores 
of the vast lake of the North, nor till 1660 that the unflinching 
devotion of the Missionaries caused the first station to rise upon 
its rocky and pine-clad borders. But Mesnard, who founded that 
station, perished in the woods in a few months afterward, and 
five more years slipped by before Father Claude Allouez, in 
1665, built the earliest of the lasting habitations of white men 
among the kindly and hospitable Indians of the Northwest. 
Following in his steps, in 1668, Claude Dablon and James 
Marquette founded the mission at St. Mary's Falls; in 1670, 
Nicholas Parrot, as agent for Talon, the intendant of Canada, 
explored lake Michigan as far as Chicago ; in 1671 formal pos- 
session was taken of the North west by French officers in the 
presence of Indians assembled from every part of the surround- 
ing region, and in the same year Marquette gathered a little flock 
of listeners, at Point St. Ignatius, on the main land north of the 
tsland of Mackinac. During the three years which this most 
excellent man had now spent in that country, the idea of 
exploring the lands yet farther towards the setting sun, had been 
growing more and more definite in his mind. He had heard, as 
all had, of the great river of the West, and fancied upon its 
fertile banks, — not mighty cities, mines of gold, or fountains of 
youth — but whole tribes of God's children to whom the sound 
of the Gospel had never come. Filled with the wish to go and 
preach to them^ he obeyed with joy the orders of Talon, the 
wise intendant of Canada, to lead a party into the unknown 
distance ; and having received, as companions on behalf of the 
government, a Monsieur Joliet, of Quebec, together with five 
boatmen, in the spring of 1673, he prepared to go forth in search 
of the much talked of stream.f 

Upon the 13th of May, 1673, this little band of seven left 
Michilimackinac in two bark canoes, with a small store of Indian 
corn and jerked meat, bound they knew not whither. 

The first nation they visited, one with which our reverend 
Father had been long acquainted, being told oi their venturous 

*' JaJJjs of St. Mary- fFor tbe above dates, kc,, see Bancroft's V. S., Vol. HI 



30 Reach the Mississippi, 1673.. 

plan, begged them to desist. There were Indians, they said, on 
tiiat great river, who would cut off their heads without the least 
cause ; warriors who would seize them ; monsters who would 
swallow them, canoes and all; even a demon, who shut the 
way, and buried in the waters that boil about him, all who 
dared draw nigh; and, if these dangers were passed, there were- 
heats there that would infallibly kill them.* "I thanked them 
for their good advice," says Marquette, "but I told them that I 
could not follow it; since the salvation of souls was at stake, for 
which 1 should be overjoyed to give my life." 

Passing through Green Bay, from the mud of which, says our 
voyager, rise "mischievous vapoi's, that cause the most grand 
and perpetual thunders that I have ever heard," they entered 
Fox river, and toiling over stones which cut their feet, as they 
dragged their canoes through its strong rapids, reached a village 
where lived in union the Miamis, Mascoutensf and "Kikabeux" 
(Kickapoos.) Here AUouez had preached, and behold! in the 
midst of the town, a cross, {une belle craix,) on which hung 
skins, and belts, ai\d bows, and arrows, which "these good 
people had offered to the great Manitou, to thank him because 
he had taken pity on them during the winter, and had given 
them an abundant chase." 

Beyond this point no Fi-enchman had gone; here was the 
bound of discovery ; and much did the savages wonder at the 
hardihood of these seven men, who, alone, in two bark canoes, 
were thus fearlessly passing into unknown dangers. 

On the 10th of June, they left this wondering and well-wish- 
ing crowd, and, with two guides to lead them through the lakes 
and marshes of that region, started for the river, which, as they 
heard, rose but about three leagues distant, and fell into the 
Mississippi. Without ill-luck these guides conducted them to 
the portage, and helped them carry their canoes across it; then, 
returning, left them "alone amid that unknown country, in the 
hand of God." 

* The allusion here is to the legend of the Piasau — or tbc monster bird that devoured 
men, of which some rude Indian paintings were seen thirty years since on the cliffs above 
the city of Alton, and Indians as they passed in their canoes made offerings by dropping 
tobacco and other articles, valuable in their estimation in the riv. r. John Russell, Esq., of 
Illinois, wove this "Indian Tradition" into a beautiful story that went the rounds of peri- 
odical literature, in 1840. — Ed. 

fin Charlevoix's time these occupied the country from the Dlinoia to the Fox river, and 
from lake Mlohigou to the Missi&jippi.— See hia Map. 



1673. Visit to the Illinois. 31 

With prayers to the mother of Jesus they strengthened their 
souls, and committed themselves, in all hope, to the current of 
the westward flowing river, the "Ouisconsin"* (Wisconsin ;) a 
sand-barred stream, hard to navigate, but full of islands covered 
with vines, and bordered by meadows, and groves, and pleasant 
slopes. Down this they floated until, upon the 17th of June, 
they entered the Mississippi, "with a joy," says Marquette, 
"that I cannot express." 

Quietly floating down the great river, they remarked the 
deer, the buffaloes, the swans — "wingless, for they lose their 
feathers in that country," — the great fish, one of which had 
nearly knocked their canoe into atoms, and other creatures of 
air, earth and water, but no men. At last, however, upon the 
21st of June, they discovered, upon the western bank of the 
river, the foot prints of some fellow mortals, and a little path 
leading into a pleasant meadow. Leaving the canoes in charge 
of their followers, Joliet and Father Marquette boldly advanced 
upon this path toward, as they supposed, an Indian village. 
Nor were they mistaken; for they soon came to a little town, 
to which, recommending themselves to God's care, they went so 
nigh as to hear the savages talking. Having made their pres- 
ence known by a loud cry, they were graciously received by an 
embassy of four old men, who presented them the pipe of peace, 
and told them, that this was a village of the "Illinois." The 
voyagers were then conducted into the town, where all received 
them as friends, and treated them to a great smoking. After 
much complimenting and present-making, a grand feast was 
given to the Europeans, consisting of four courses. The first 
was of hominy, the second of fish, the third of a dog,t which 
the Frenchmen declined, and the whole concluded with roast 
buffalo. After the feast they were marched through the town 
with great ceremony and much speech-making ; and, having 
spent the night, pleasantly and quietly, amid the Indians, they 
returned to their canoes with an escort of six hundred people. 

* Called "Misconsin" in the printed Journal. — Ed. 

I A dog feast is still a feast of honor among the savages. See Fremont's Report of Expe- 
ditions of 1842, '43, and '44, printed at Washington, 18^5; p. 42. Fremont says the meat 
is somewhat like mutton. See, also. Dr. Jarvis's discourse before theN. Y. Historical Society 
in 1819, note B.j Lewis and Clark's Journal, II. 165; Godman's Natural History, I. 254. 



32 Arrive at the Arkansas. 1673. 

The Illinois, Marquette, like all the eaily travelers, describes as 
remarkably handsome, well-mannered, and kindly, even some- 
what efieminate. 

Leaving the Illinois, the adventurers passed the rocks* upon 
which were painted those monsters of whose existence they had 
heard on Lake Michigan, and soon found themselves at the 
mouth of the Pekitanoni, or Missouri of our day ; the character 
of which is well described; muddy, rushing, and noisy. — They 
next passed a dangerous rock in the riverf and then came to 
the Ouabouskigou, or Ohio, a stream which makes but a small 
figure in Father Marquette's map, being but a trifling water- 
course compared to the Illinois. From the Ohio, our voyagers 
passed with safety, except from the musquitoes, into the neigh- 
borhood of the "Akamscas," or Arkansas. Here they were at- 
tacked by a crowd of warriors, and had nearly lost their lives; 
but Marquette resolutely presented the peace-pipe, and some of 
the old men of the attacking party were softened, and saved 
them from harm. "God touched their hearts," says the pious 
narrator. 

The next day the Frenchmen went on to "Akamsca," where 
they were received most kindly, and feasted on corn and dog 
till they could eat no more. These Indians cooked in and eat 
from earthen ware, and were amiable and unceremonious, each 
man helping himself from the dish and passing it to his neighbor. 
Fi'om this point Joliet and our writer determined to return to 
the North, as dangers increased towards the sea, and no doubt 
could exist as to the point where the Mississippi emptied, to 
ascertain which point was the great object of their expedition. 
Accordingly, on the 17th of July, our voyagers left Akamsca; 
retraced their path with much labor, to the Illinois, through 
which they soon reached the Lake; and, "nowhere," says 
Marquette, "did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, 
buffaloes, deer, wild-cats, bustards, swans, ducks, j>avro(juets, 
and even beavers," as on the Illinois river. 

In September the party, without loss or injury, reached Green 
Bay, and reported their discovery ; one of the most important 
of that age, but of which we have now no record left except 
the brief narrative of Marquette ; Joliet, (as we learn from an 
abstract of his account, given in Hennepin's second volume* 

*PiaEft Rock, at the present city of Alton, Illinois. tTte Grand Tower. 



1675. Death of Marqiutte. S3 

London, 1698,) having lost all his papers while returning to Que- 
bec, by the upsetting of his canoe. Marquette's unpretending 
account, we have in a collection of voyages by Thevenot, 
printed in Paris in 1681.* Its general correctness is unques- 
tionable ; and, as no European had claimed to have made any 
such discovery at the time this volume was published, but the 
persons therein named, we may consider the account as genuine. 

Afterwards Marquette returned to the Illinois, by their request, 
and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in 
that year, as he was passing with his boatmen up Lake INIich- 
igan, he proposed to land at the mouth of a stream running 
from the peninsula, and perform mass. Leaving his men with 
the canoe, he went a little way apart to pray, they waiting for 
him. As much time passed, and he did not return, they called 
to mind that he had said something of his death being at hand, 
and anxiously went to seek him. They found him dead ; 
where he had been praying, he had died. The canoe-men 
dug a grave near the mouth of the stream, and buried him in 
the sand. Here his body was liable to be exposed by a rise 
of water; and would have been so, had not the river retired, 
and left the missionary's grave in peace. Charlevoix, who 
visited the spot some fifty years afterward, found that the wa- 
ters had forced a passage at the most difficult point, had cut 
through a bluff, rather than cross the lowland where that grave 
w^as. The river is called Marquette. f 

While the simple-hearted and true Marquette was pursuing 
his labors of love in the West, two men, differing widely from 
him and each other, were preparing to follow in his footsteps, 
and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him and the 
Sieur Joliet. These were Robert de la Salle and Louis Hen- 
nepin. 

* This work is now very rare, but Marquette's Journal has been republished by Mr. 
Sparks, at least in substance, in Butler's Kentucky, 2tl Ed. 492, • and in the American 
Biography, 1st scries, vol. X. A copy of the map by Marquette, is also given by Mr. Ban- 
croft, vol. III. We have followed the original in Thevenot, a copy of which is in Harvard 
Library. 

fCharlevoix's Letters, vol. II. p. 96. New France, vol. VI. p. 20. Marquette spells 
the name of the great western river, "Mississippy;" Hennepin made it "Meschasipij" 
others have written "Meschasabe," &c. &c. There is great confusion in all the Indian oral 
names; we have " Kikabeau.^," "Kikapous," "Quicapous;" "Ottaouets," "Outnovas;" 
"Miamis," "Oumamis;" and so of nearly all the nations. Our "Sioux" Charlevoix tells us, 
is the last syllable of "Nadouessioux," which is written, by Hennepin, "Nadoussion" and 
"Nadouessious," in his "Louisiana," and " Nadouessans," and in his " Nouvclle Xfecou 
verte," The Shawanese are always called the "Chouanouns." 



34 Robert dc la Salle. 1675 

La Salle was a native of Normandy, and was brought up, 
as we learn from Charlevoix, among the Jesuits;^ but, having 
lost, by some unknown cause, his patrimony, and being of a 
stirring and energetic disposition, he left his home to seek for- 
tune among the cold and dark regions of Canada. This was 
about the year 1670. Here he mused long upon the pet pro- 
ject of those ages, a short-cut to China and the East ; and, 
gaining his daily bread, we know not how, was busily plan- 
ning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the con- 
tinent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mis- 
sissippi. At once the hot mind of La Salle received from his 
and his companion's narrations, the idea, that, by following the 
Great River northward, or by turning up some of the streams 
which joined it from the westward, his aim might be certainly 
and easily gained. Instantly he went towards his object. He 
applied to Frontenac, then governor-general of Canada, laid 
before him an outline of his views, dim but gigantic, and, as 
a first step, proposed to rebuild of stone, and with improved 
fortifications. Fort Frontenac upon Lake Ontario, a post to 
which he knew the governor felt all the affection due to a 
namesake. Frontenac entered warmly into his views. He 
saw, that, in La Salle's suggestion, which was to connect Can- 
ada with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain efforts upon the vast 
navigable lakes and rivers which bind that country so won- 
derfully together, lay the germ of a plan, which might give 
unmeasured power to France, and unequalled glory to him- 
self, under whose administration, he fondly hoped, all would be 
realized. He advised La Salle, therefore, to go to the King 
of France, to make known his project, and ask for the royal 
patronage and protection ; and, to forward his suit, gave him 
letters to the great Colbert, minister of finance and marine. 

With a breast full of hope and bright dreams, in 1675, the 
penniless adventurer sought his monarch ; his plan was ap- 
proved by the minister, to whom he presented Frontenac's 
letter; La Salle was made a Chevalier; was invested wilh 
the seignory of Fort Catarocouy or Frontenac, upon condition 
he would rebuild it ; and received from all the first noblemen 
and princes, assurances of their good- will and aid. Returning 
to Canada, he labored diligently at his fort till the close of 
1677, when he again sailed for France with news of his pro- 

•Charlevoix's New France, Paris edition of 1744, vol. II. p. 263. 



1678. Father Louis Hennepm. 35 

gress. Colbert and his son, Seignelay, now minister of marine, 
once more received him with favor, and, at their instance, the 
King granted new letters patent with new privileges. His 
mission having sped so well, on the 14th of July, 1G78, La 
Salle, Math his lieutenant, Tonti, an Italian, and thirty men> 
sailed again from Rochelle for Quebec, where they arrived on 
the 15th of September ; and, after a few days' stay, proceeded 
to Fort Frontenac* 

Here was quietly working, though in no quiet spirit, the 
rival and co-laborer of La Salle, Louis Hennepin, a Francis- 
can friar, of the Recollet variety ; a man full of ambition to 
be a great discoverer; daring, hardy, energetic, vain, and self- 
exaggerating, almost to madness; and, it is feared, more anx- 
ious to advance his own holy and unholy ends than the truth. 
He had in Europe lurked behind doors, he tells us, that he 
might hear sailors spin their yarns touching foreign lands ; 
and he profited, it would seem, by their instructions. He 
came to Canada when La Salle returned from his first visit to 
the court, and had, to a certain extent, prepared himself, by 
journeying among the Iroquois, for bolder travels in the wilder- 
ness. Having been appointed by his religious superiors to ac- 
company the expedition which was about to start for the 
extreme West, under La Salle, Hennepin was in readiness for 
him at Fort Frontenac, where he arrived, probably, some time 
in October, 1678. f 

*Charlevoix's New France, 1744, vol. II. p. 264, 266. Sparks' life of La Salle. Ameri- 
can Biography, new series, I. 10 to 15. 

fHennepia's New Discovery, Utrecht edition of 1697, p. 70. — Charlevoix's New France 
vol. II. p. 266. We give the name* of the lakes and rivers as they appear in the 
early travels. 

Lake Ontario was also Lake Frontenac. 

Lake Erie, was Erike, Erige, or Erie, from a nation of Eries destroyed hy the Iro- 
quois; they lived where the State of Ohio now is (Charlevoix's New France, vol. II. p. 62;) 
it was also the Lake of Conti. 

Lake Huron, was Karegnondi in early times ( Ma2> of 1656 ; ) and also, Lake of Orleans. 

Lake Michigan, was Lake of Piians (Map of 1656;) also, of the Illinois, or lUinese, or 
Ulinouacks; also Lake Mischigonong, and Lake of the Dauphin. 

Lake Superior was lake Supcrieur, meaning the upper, not the larger lake — also, lake of 
Conde. Green Bay, was Bale de Puans. 

Illinois River, in Hennepin's Louisiana, and Joutel's Journal, is River Seignelay; and 
the Mississippi river, in those works, is River Colbert; and was by La Salle, called 
River Colbert. 

Ohio River was Ouabouskigou, Oubachi, Oubaehe, Oyo, Ouye, Belle Riviere ; and by La 
Salle, River St. Louis. 

Missouri River, was Pekitanoni, Riviere des Osages et Massourites ; and by Coxe is called 
Yellow River. 



36 First Schooner on the Lakes. 1679. 

The Chevalier's first step was to send forward men to pre- 
pare the minds of the Indians along the lakes for his coming, 
and to soften their heart by well-chosen gifts and words ; and 
also, to pick up peltries, beaver skins, and other valuables ; 
and, upon the 18th of November, 1678, he himself embarked 
in a little vessel of ten tons, to cross Lake Ontario. This, says 
one of his chroniclers, was the first ship that sailed upon that 
fresh water sea. The wind was strong and contrar}^, and four 
weeks nearly were passed in beating up the little distance be- 
tween Kingston and Niagara. Having forced their brigantine 
as far towards the Falls as was possible, our travellers landed ; 
built .some magazines with difficulty, for at times the ground 
was frozen so hard that they could drive their stakes or posts 
into it, only by first pouring upon it boiling water; and then 
made acquaintance with the Iroquois of the. village of Niagara, 
upon Lake Erie. Not far from this village, La Salle founded 
a second fort, upon which he set his men to work ; but, finding 
the Iroquois jealous, he gave it up for a time, and merely 
erected temporary fortifications for his magazines; and then, 
leaving orders for a new ship to be built, he returned to Fort 
Frontenac, to forward stores, cables, and anchors for his forth- 
coming vessel. 

Through the hard and cold winter days, the frozen river 
lying before them" "like a plain paved with fine polished 
marble," some of his men hewed and hammered upon the 
timbers of the Griffin, as the great bark was to be named, 
while others gathered furs and skins, or sued for the good will 
of the bloody savages amid whom they were quartered ; and 
all went merrily until the 20th (if January, 1679. On that 
day the Chevalier arrived from below; not with all his goods, 
however, for his misfortunes had commenced. The vessel in 
which his valuables had been embarked was ^^Tecked through 
the bad management of the pilots; and, though the more 
important part of her freight was saved, much of her provision 
went to the bottom. During the winter, however, a very nice 
lot of furs was scraped together, with which, early in the spring 
of 1679, the commander returned to Fort Frontenac to get 
another outfit, while Tonti was sent forward to scour the lake 
coasts, mu-ster together the men who had been sent before, 
collect skins, and see all that was to be seen. In thus coming 
andgoing, buying and trading, the summer of this year slipped 



1679. La Salle in Illinois. 37 

away, and it was the 7th of August before the GriJJin was 
ready to sail. Then, with Tc-Demns, and the discharge of 
arquebuses, she began her voyage up Lake Erie. 

Over Lake Erie, through the strait beyond, across St. Clair, 
and into Huron the voyagers passed most happily. In Huron 
they were troubled by storms, dreadful as those upon the 
ocean, and were at last forced to take refuge in the road of 
Michilimackinac. This was upon the 27th of August. At 
this place, which is described as one "of prodigious fertility,'* 
La Salle remained until the middle of September, founded a 
fort there, and sent men therefrom in various directions to spy 
out (he state of the land. He then went on to Green Bay, the 
" Bale des Puans,"-}- of the French ; and, finding there a large 
quantity of skins and furs collected for him, he determined to 
load the Griffin therewith, and send her back to Niagara. 
This was done with all promptness ; and, upon the 18th of 
September, she was dispatched under the charge of a pilot, 
supposed to be competent and trustworthy, while the Norman 
himself, with fourteen men, proceeded up Lake Michigan, 
paddling along its shores in the most leisurely manner; Tonti, 
meanwhile, having been sent to find stragglers, with whom 
he was to join the main body at the head of the lake. 

From the 19th of September till the 1st of November, the 
time was consumed by La Salle in his voyage up the sea in 
question. On the day last named, he arrived at the mouth of 
the river of the Miamis, or St, Josephs, as it is now called.t 
Here he built a fort and remained for nearly a month, when 
hearing nothing from his Griffin, he determined to push on 
before it was too late. 

On the 3rd of December, having mustered all his forces, 
thirty laborers and three monks, after having left ten men to 
garrison the fort. La Salle started again upon "his great voy- 
age and glorious undertaking." Ascending the St. Josephs 
river in the south- western part of Michigan to a point where, 
by a short portage, they passed to the ^'■Thc-au-ki-ki,^^ (now 
corrupted into Kankakee,) a main branch of the Illinois river. 
Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to 

*Tn reality a very sterile spot. 

j"So called from the filthiness of the savages, who lived principally on fish. — Ed. 

JSee on this point, North American Review, January 1839, No. CII. p. 74. 



88 Fort Crevcccpur Built. 1680. 

observe that country, about the last of December, reached a 
village of the Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred 
cabins, but, at that moment, no inhabitants. The Sieur La 
Salle, being in great want of bread-stuffs, took advantage of 
this absence of the Indians to help himself to a sufficiency of 
maize, of which large quantities were found hidden in holes 
under the huts or wigwams. This village was, as near as we 
can jud^e, not far from the spot marked on our maps as Rock 
Fort, inXa Salle county, Illinois. The corn being got aboard, 
the voyagers betook themselves to the stream again, and 
toward evening on the 4th of January, 1680, fell into a lake 
which must have been the lake of Peoria. Here the natives 
were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and 
kind, and having spent some time with them, La Salle deter- 
mined in that neighborhood to build another fort, for he found 
that already some of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb 
the good feeling which existed; and, moreover, some of his own 
men were disposed to complain. A spot upon rising ground, 
near the river, was accordingly chosen about the middle of 
January, and the fort of Crcvccosu?- (Broken Heart,) com- 
menced ; a name expressive of the very natural anxiety and 
sorrow, which the pretty certain loss of his Griffin, and his 
consequent impoverishment (for there were no insurance 
offices then,) the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, 
and of mutiny on the part of his men, might well cause him. 

Nor were his fears by any means groundless. In the first 
place, his discontented followers, and afterwards emissaries 
from the Mascoutens, tried to persuade the Illinois that he was 
a friend of the Iroquois, their most deadly enemies; and that 
he was among them for the purpose of enslaving them. But 
La Salle was an honest and fearless man, and, as soon as cold- 
ness and jealousy appeared on the part of his hosts, he went 
to them boldly and asked the cause, and by his frank state- 
ments preserved their good feeling and good will. His disap- 
pointed enemies, then, or at some other time, for it is not very 
clear when,* tried poison; and, but for "a dose of good treacle," 
La Salle might have ended his days in his fort Crevecoeur. 

Meanwhile the winter wore away, and the prairies were 

•Charlevoix snys it was at the close of 1679; Hennepin, tliat they did not reach the Il- 
linois, till Jnnu.iry 4tli, ItiSO. We have no means of deciding, but follow Hennepin, who is 
particular ns to dutc!!, and was present. 



1680. Loss of the Griffin. 39 

getting to look green again ; but our discoverer heard no good 
news, received no reinforcement ; his property w^as gone, his 
men were fast deserting him, and he had little left but his own 
strong heart. The second year of his hopes, and toils, and 
failures, was half gone, and he further from his object than 
ever; but still he had that strong heart, and it was more than 
men and money. He saw that he must go back to Canada, 
raise new means, and enlist new men ; but he did not dream, 
therefore, of relinquishing his projects. On the contrary, he 
determined that, while he was on his return, a small party 
should go to the Mississippi and explore that stream towards 
its source ; and that Tonti, with the few men that remained, 
should strengthen and extend his relations among the Indians. 

For the leader of the Mississippi exploring party, he chose 
Father Louis Hennepin ; and, having furnished him with all 
the necessary articles, started him upon his voyage on the last 
day of February, 1680.* 

Having thus provided against the entire stagnation of dis- 
covery during his forced absence. La Salle at once betook 
himself to his journey eastward : a journey scarce conceivable 
now, for it was to be made by land from fort CrevecoBur round 
to fort Frontenac, a distance of at least twelve hundred miles, 
at the most trying season of the year, when the rivers of the 
lakes would be full of floating ice, and offer to the traveler 
neither the security of winter, nor the comfort of summer. 
But the Chevalier was not to be daunted by any obstacles ; his 
affairs were in so precarious a state that he felt he must make 
a desperate effort, or all his plans would be for ever broken up ; 
so through snow, ice and water, he won his way along the 
southern borders of lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario, and at 
last reached his destination. He found, as he expected, every 
thing in confusion : his Griffin was lost ; his agents had cheated 

*The commander was D'Acau, corruptly made Dacan by many modern Trriters. Our 
authority is Dr. Sparks. In a manuscript correspondence on the subject, with the editor, 
Dr. S. says : 

"In my French MSS., I find the word written D'Acau, and I suppose it was commonly 
called Acau. Hence Hennepin writes it from the sound Ako; and from the blind manner 
in which the name was written in Tonti's original MS., D'Acau, was mistaken for Duean; 
and here we have the origin of the conflict between Hennepin and Tonti, in regard to this , 
name, which has puzzled the subsequent writers." 

Hennepin was notorious for misstatements, andjclaims to authority he never possessed. 
He was with the expedition and the historian of it. — Ed. 



40 Hennepin iiitli the Indians. 1680. 

him; liis creditors had seized his goods. Had his spirit been 
one atom less elastic and energetic, he would have abandoned 
the whole undertaking ; but La Salle knew neither fear nor 
despair, and by midsummer we behold him once more on his 
way to rejoin his little band of explorers on the Illinois. This 
pioneer body, meanwhile, had suffered greatly from the jeal- 
ousy of the neighboring Indians, and the attacks of bands of 
Iroc^uois, who wandered all the way from their homes in New 
York, to annoy the less warlike savages of the prairies. Their 
sufferings, at length, in September, 1680, induced Tonti to 
abandon his position, and seek the lakes again, a point which, 
with much difficulty, he effected. When, therefore, La Salle, 
who had hoard nothing of all these troubles, reached the posts 
upon the Illinois in December 1680, or January 1681, he found 
them utterly deserted ; his hopes again crushed, and all his 
dreams again disappointed. There was but one thing to be 
done, however, to turn back to Canada, enlist more men, and 
secure more means : this he did, and in June, 1081, had the 
pleasure to meet his comrade, Lieutenant Tonti, at Mackinac, 
to whom he spoke, as we learn from an eye-witness, with the 
same hope and courage which he had exhibited at the outset 
of his enterprise. 

And here, for a time, we must leave La Salle and Tonti, and 
notice the adventures of Hennepin, who, it will be remem- 
bered, left fort CrevecQDur on the last of February, 1680. In 
seven days he reached the Missis.sippi, and, paddling up its 
icy stream «is he best could, by the 11th of April had got no 
higher than the Wisconsin. Here he was taken prisoner by a 
band of northern Indians, who treated him and his comrades 
with considerable kindness, and took them up the river 
until about the first of May, when they reached the Falls of 
St. Anthony, which were then so named by Hennepin in 
honor of his patron saint. Here they took to the land, and 
traveling nearly two hundred miles towards the northwest, 
brought him to their villages. These Indians were the Sioux. 

Here Hennepin and his companions remained about three 
months, treated kindly and trusted by their captors ; at the 
end of that time, he met with a band of Frenchmen, headed 
'by one Sicur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had 
penetrated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and, with 
these fellow countrymen the Franciscan returned to the bor- 



1682. La Salle on the Mississippi. 4i 

ders of civilized life, in November, 1680, just after La Salle 
had gone back to the wilderness as we have related. Hen- 
nepin soon after went to France, where, in 1684, he published 
a work narrating his adventures.* 

To return again to the Chevalier himself, he met Tonti, as 
w^e have said, at Mackinac, in June, 1681 ; thence he went 
down the lakes to fort Frontenac, to make the needful prepa- 
rations for prosecuting his western discoveries ; these being 
made, we find him, in August, 1681, on his way up the lakes 
again, and on the 3d of November at the St. Josephs, as full 
of confidence as ever. The middle of December had come, 
however, before all were ready to go forward, and then, with 
twenty- three Frenchmen, eighteen eastern Indians, ten Indian 
women to wait upon their lazy mates, and three children, 
he started, not as before by the way of the Kankakee, but by 
the Chicago river, traveling on foot and with the baggage on 
sledges. It was upon the 5th or 6th of January, 1682, that 
the band of explorers left the borders of lake Michigan ; they 
crossed the portage, passed down to fort Crevecoeur, which 
they found in good condition, and still going forward, on the 
6th of February, were upon the banks of the Mississippi. On 
the thirteenth they commenced their downward passage, but 
nothing of interest occurred, until, on the 26th of the month, 
at the Chickasaw Bluffs, a Frenchman, named Prudhomme, 
w^ho had gone out with others to hunt, was lost, a circum- 
stance which led to the erection of a fort upon the spot, named 
from the missing man, who was found, however, eight or nine 
days afterwards. Pursuing their course, they at length, upon 
the 6th of April, 1682, discovered the three passages by which 
the Mississippi discharges its waters into the Gulf; and here 
we shall let La Salle himself tell his story, as it is given in the 

*This volume, called "A description of Louisiana," he, thirteen years afterwards, en- 
larged and altered, and published with the title, "New Discovery of a Vast Country situated 
in America, between New Mexico and the Frozen Ocean." In this new publication, he 
claimed to have violated La Salle's instructions, and in the first place to have gone down 
the Mississippi to its mouth, before ascending it. His claim was very naturally doubted; 
and examination has proved it to be a complete fable, the materials having been taken from 
an account published by Le Clercq in 1691, of La Salle's successful voyage down the great 
river of the West, a voyage of which we have presently to speak. This account of La 
Clercq's was drawn from the letters of Father Zenobo Membre, a priest who was with La 
Salle, and is the most valuable published work in relation to the final expedition from 
Canada, made by that much-tried and dauntless commander. The whole subject of Hen- 
nepin's credibility, is presented by Mr. Sparks, in his life of La Salle, with great firmness 
and xrecision, and to that we refer all curious readers. 

3 



42 Mouth of the River. 1682. 

"Proces-verbal" which Mr. Sparks has translated from the 
original in the French archives. It thus proceeds : 

"We landed on the bank of the most western channel, 
about three leagues from its mouth. On the 7th, M. de La 
Salle went to reconnoitre the shores of the neighboring sea, 
and M. de Tonti likewise examined the great middle chan- 
nel. They found these two outlets beautiful, large and deep. 

On the Sth, we reascended the river, a little above its con- 
fluence with the sea, to find a dry place, beyond the reach of 
inundations. The elevation of the North Pole w-as here about 
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a 
cross, and to the said column w^e affixed the arms of France, 
with this inscription : 

LOUIS LE GRAND, RIO DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE, REGEN; 
LE NEUVIEME AVRIL, 1682. 

The whole party, under arms, chaunted the Tc Dcum, the 
Exaudiat, the Domine salvum fac Regcm ; and then, after a 
salute of firearms and cries of Vive le Roi, the column was 
erected by M. de la Salle, who, standing near it, said, with a 
loud voice in French : — 

" 'In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and vic- 
torious Prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God, King of 
France and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, this ninth 
day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, I, in 
virtue of the commission of his IMajcsty, which I hold in my 
hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, 
have taken, and do now take, in the name of his Majesty and 
of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of 
Louisiana, the seas^, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits ; and 
all the nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, 
minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers, comprised in the extent 
of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. 
Louis, on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Alighin, 
Sipore or Chukagona, and this with the consent of the Chaou- 
nons, Chickasaws, and other people dwelling therein, with 
whom we have made alliance ; as also along the river Colbert 
or Mississippi, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, 
from its source beyond the country of the Kious or Nadoues- 
sious, and this with their consent, and with the consent of the 
Montantees, Illinois, Mesigameas, Natches, Koroas, which are 



1682. Takes Possession of the Country. 43 

the most considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom, 
also, we have made alliance either by ourselves, or by others 
in our behalf;* as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of 
Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree of the elevation of 
the North Pole, and also to the mouth of the river of Palms ; 
upon the assurance, which we have received from all these 
nations, that we are the first Europeans who have descended 
or ascended the sa,id river Colbert ; hereby protesting against 
all those, who may in future undertake to invade any or all of 
these countries, people or lands, above described, to the preju- 
dice of the right of his Majesty, acquired by the consent of 
the nations herein named. Of which, and of all that can be 
needed, I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and de- 
mand an act of the Notary, as required by law.' 

"To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of 
Vive le Roi, and with salutes of firearms. Moreover, the said 
Sieur de la Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree, 
to which the cross was attached, a leaden plate, on -one side 
of w^hich were engraved the arms of France, and the follow- 
ing Latin inscription. 

LVDOVICVS MAGNVS REGENT. 
NONO APBILIS CID IOC LXXXII. 
ROBERTVS CAVELLIER, CVM DOMINO DE TONTY, LEGATO, R. P. ZENOBI 
MEMBRE, EECOLLECTO, ET VIGINTI GALLIS PRIMVS HOC FLVMEN, INDE AB 
ILINEOEVM PAGO, ENAVIGAVIT, EJVSQYE OSTIVM FECIT PERVlVVM, NONO 
APRILIS ANNI CIO IOC LXXXII. 

After which the Sieur de la Salle said, that his Majesty, as 
eldest son of the Church, would annex no country to his crown, 
without making it his chief care to establish the Christian reli- 
gion therein, and that its symbol must now be planted ; which 
was accordingly done at once by erecting a cross, before which 
the Vexilla and the Doynine salvwn fac Regcm were sung. — 
Whereupon the ceremony was concluded with cries of Vive 
le Roi. 

"Of all and every of the above, the said Sieur de la Salle 
having required of us an instrument, we have delivered to him 

''■Tliere is an obscurity in this enumeration of places and Indian nations, ■which may be 
ascribed to an ignorance of the geography of the country ; but it seems to be the design of 
the Sieur de la Salle to take possession of the whole territory watered by the Mississippi 
from its mouth to its source, and by the streams flowing into it c^n both sides. — Sparks. 



44 Returns to Illinois. 1682. 

the same, signed by us, and by the undersigned witnesses, this 
ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two. 

'LA METAIRE, Notary. 
De la Salle, Pierre You, 

P, TiEsonE,' Recollect Missionary. Giles Meucrat, 
Henry de Toxty, Jean Michel, Surgeon, 

Francois de Boisrondet, Jean Mas, 

Jean Bourdon, Jean Dclignon, 

Sieur d'Autray, Nicholas de la Salle." 

Jaques Cauchois. 

Thus was the foundation fairly laid for the claim of France 
to the Mississippi Valley, according to the usages of European 
powers. But La Salle and his companions could not stay to 
examine the land they had entered, nor the coast they had 
reached. Provisions with them were exceedingly scarce, and 
they were forced at once to start upon their return for the 
north. This they did without serious trouble, although some- 
what annoyed by the savages, until they reached Fort Prud- 
homme, where La Salle was taken violently sick. Finding 
himself unable to announce his success in person, the Cheva- 
lier sent forward Tonti to the lakes to communicate with the 
Count de Fronlenac : he himself was able to reach the fort 
at the mouth of the St. Josephs, toward the last of September. 
From that post he sent with his dispatches, Father Zenobe, 
to represent him in France, while he pursued the more lucra- 
tive business of attending to his fur trade, in the north-west, 
and "completing his long projected fort of St. Louis, upon the 
high and commanding blulV of the Illinois, now known as 
Rock Fort ; a bluff two hundred and fifty feet high, and acces- 
sible only on one side.* Having seen this completed, and the 
necessary steps taken to preserve a good understanding with 
the Indians, and also to keep up a good trade with them, in 
the autumn of 1683, the Chevalier sailed for his native land, 
which he reached, December I3th. 

At one time he had thought probably of attempting to estab- 

* After exchanging views and facta with Dr. SjMirks, he writes, Nov. 26, 1846. "It ap- 
pears to me that "Buffalo Rock," from your description, is most likely to have been the 
site of La Salle's Fort St. Louis." 

Buffalo Rock is a singular promontory on the north side of the Illinois river in La Salle 
county, six miles below Ottowa. It rises nearly 50 or 60 feet nearly perpendicular on three 
sides, and contains on its surface about 600 acres, of timber and prairie. — Gaz. of Illincis 
hj Ed. 



1684. La Salle sails to France. 45 

lish a colony on the Mississippi, by means of supplies and per- 
sons sent from Canada ; bat farther reflection led him to believe 
his true course to be to go direct from France to the mouth of 
the Mississippi, with abundant means of settling and securing 
the country ; and to obtain the necessary ships, stores, and emi- 
grants, was the main purpose of his visit to Europe. But he 
found his fair fame in danger, in the court of his king. His 
success, his wide plans, and his overbearing character were 
all calculated to make him enemies ; and among the foremost 
was La Barre, who had succeeded Frontenac as Governor of 
Canada. 

But La Salle had a most able advocate in France, so soon 
as he was there in person ; and the whole nation being stirred 
by the story of the new discoveries, of which Hennepin had 
widely promulgated his first account some months before La 
Salle's return, our hero found ears open to drink in his words, 
and imaginations warmed to make the most of them. The 
minister, Seignelay, desired to see the adventurer, and he soon 
won his way to whatever heart that man had ; for it could not 
have required much talk with La Salle to have been satisfied 
of his sincerity, enthusiasm, energy, and bravery. The tales 
of the new governor fell dead, therefore the king listened 
to the prayer of his subject, that a fleet might be sent to take 
possession of the mouth of the Mississippi, and so that the 
great country of which he told them be secured to France. — 
The king listened : and soon the town of Rochelle was busy 
with the stir of artisans, ship-riggers, adventurers, soldiers, 
sailors, and all that varied crowd which in those days looked 
into the dim West for a land where wealth was to be had 
for the seeking. 

On the 24th of July, 1684, twenty-four vessels sailed from 
Rdchelle to America, four of which were for the discovery and 
settlement of the famed Louisiana. These four carried two 
hundred and eighty persons, including the crews ; there were 
soldiers, artificers, and volunteers, and also "some young wo- 
men." There is no doubt that this brave fleet started full of 
light hearts, and vast, vague hopes ; but, alas ! it had scarce 
started when discord began ; for La Salle and the commander 
of the fleet, M. de Beaujeu, were well fitted to quarrel one 
with the other, but never to work together. In truth La Salle 
seems to have been no wise amiable, for he was overbearing. 



46 Returns to the Gulf of Mexico. 1684. 

harsh, and probably selfish to the full extent to be looked for 
in a man of worldly ambition. However, in one of the causes 
of quarrel which arose during the passage, he acted, if not 
M'ith polic}', certainly with boldness and humanity. It was 
when they came to the Tropic of Cancer, where, in those 
times, it was customary to dip all green hands, as is still 
sometimes done under the Equator. On this occasion the 
sailors of La Salle's little squadron promised themselves rare 
sport and much plunder, grog, and other good things, the for- 
feit paid by those who do not wish a seasoning ; but all these 
expectations were stopped, and hope turned into hate, by the 
express and emphatic statement on the part of La Salle, that 
no man under his command should be ducked, whereupon the 
commander of the fleet was forced to forbid the ceremony. 

With such beginnings of bickering and dissatisfaction, the 
Atlantic was slowly crossed, and, upon the 20th of September, 
the island of St. Domingo was reached. Here certain ar- 
rangements were to be made with the colonial authorities; 
but, as they were away, it became necessary to stop there for 
a time. And a sad time it Avas. The fever seized the new- 
comers ; the .ships were crowded with sick ; La Salle himself 
was brought to the verge of the grave ; and when he recov- 
ered, the fir.st news that greeted him, was that of his four 
vessels, the one wherein he had embarked his stores and 
implements, had been taken by the Spaniards. The sick man 
had to bestir himself thereupon to procure new supplies; and 
while he was doing so, his enemies were also bestirring them- 
selves to seduce his men from him, so that with death and 
desertion, he was likely to have a small crew at the last. 
But energy did much ; and, on the 25th of November, the first 
of the remaining vessels, she that was "to carry the light," 
sailed for the coast of America. In her went La Salle and the 
historian of the voyage, Joutel.* 

For a whole month were the disconsolate sailors sailing, 
and sounding, and stopping to take in water and .shoot alliga- 
tors, and drifting in utter uncertainty, until, on the 28th of De- 
cember, the main land was fairly discovered. But "there 
being," as Joutel says, "no man among them who had any 
knowledge of that Bay," and there being also an impression 

•''Joutel accompanied La Salle, and subsequently wrote his "Journal Hw/wigae," which 
was published in Paris, 1713. In the main it appears to be a truthful narrative. — Ed. 



16S5. Lands in Texas, 47 

that they must steer very much to the westward to avoid the 
currents, it was no wonder they missed the Mississippi, and 
wandered far beyond it, not knowing where they went ; and 
so wore away the whole month of January, 1685. At last, 
La Salle, out of patience, determined to land some of his men 
and go along the shore toward the point where he believed 
the mouth of the Mississippi to be, and Joutel was appointed 
one of the commanders of this exploring party. They started 
on the 4th of February, and traveled eastward, (for it was clear 
that they had passed the river) during three days, when they 
came to a great stream which they could not cross, having no 
boats. Here they made fire signals, and, on the 13th, two of 
the vessels came in sight ; the mouth of the river, or entrance 
of the bay, for such it proved to be, was forthwith sounded, 
and the barks sent in to be under shelter. But, sad to say, La 
Salle's old fortune was at work here again ; for the vessel 
which bore his provisions and most valuable stores, wa.s run 
upon a shoal by the grossest neglect, or, as Joutel thinks, with 
malice prepense; and, soon after, the wind coming in strong 
from the sea, she fell to pieces in the night, and the bay was; 
full of casks and packages, which could not be saved, or were 
worthless when drawn from the salt water. From this un- 
timely fate our poor adventurer rescued but a small half of his 
second stock of indispensaMes, 

Aiid hevQ, for a moment, let us pause to look at the Cheva- 
lier's condition in the middle of March, 1685. Beaujeu, with 
his ship, is gone, leaving his comrades in the marshy wilder- 
ness, with not much of joy to look forward to. They had 
guns and powder, and shot; eight cannon, too, "but not one 
bullet," that is, cannon-ball, the naval gentlemen having 
refused to give them any. And here are our lonely settlers, 
building a fort upon the shores of the Bay of St. Louis, as they 
called it, known to us as the Bay of St. Bernard, or Mata- 
gorda Bay, in Texas. They build from the wreck of their 
ship, we cannot think with light hearts ; every plank and tim- 
ber tells of past ill luck, and, as they looked forward, there is 
vision of irritated savages, (for there had been warring al- 
ready,) of long search for the Hidden River* of toils and dar^- 
gers in its ascent when reached. No wonder, that "duriji«p^ 
that time several men deserted," So strong was the fever for 

* So the Spaniards called the Mississippi, 



48 Difficulties in Texas. 1685. 

desertion, that, of some who stole away and were retaken, it 
was found necessary to execute one. 

And now La Salle prepares to issue from his nearly comple- 
ted fort, to look around and see where he is. He has still a 
good force, some hundred and fifty people ; and, by prompt and 
determined action, much may be done between this last of 
March and next autumn. In the first place, the river falling 
into the Bay of St. Louis is examined, and a new fort com- 
menced in that neighborhood, where seed is planted also ; 
for the men begin to tire of meat and fish, with spare allow- 
ance of bread and no vegetables. But the old luck is at work 
still. The seed will not sprout; men desert; the fort goes 
forward miserably slow; and at last, three months and more 
gone to no purpose, Joutel and his men, who are still hewing 
timber at the firrit fort, are sent for, and told to bring their tim- 
ber with them in a float. The float or raft was begun "with 
immense labor," says the wearied historian, but all to no pur- 
pose, for the weather was so adverse, that it had to be all 
talien apart again and buried in the sand. Empty-handed, 
therefore, Joutel sought his superior, the effects being left at a 
post by the way. And he came to a scene of desolation ; 
men sick, and no houses to put them in ; all the looked-for 
crop blasted ; and not a ray of comfort from any quarter. 

"Well," said La Salle, "wo must now muster all hands, and 
build ourselves 'a large lodgment.' " But there was no tim- 
ber within a league; and not a cart nor a bullock to be had, for 
the buflaloes, though abundant, were ill broken to such labor. 
If done, this dragging must be done by men ; so, over the long 
grass and weeds of the prairie-plain, they dragged some sticks, 
with vast suffering. Afterwards the carriage of a gun was 
tried; but it would not do; "the ablest men were quite spent." 
Indeed, heaving and hauling over that damp plain, and under 
that July sun, might have tried the constitution of the best of 
Africans; and of the poor Frenchmen thirty died, worn out. 
The carpenter was lost; and, worse still. La Salle, wearied, 
worried, disappointed, lost his temper and insulted his men. 
So closed July ; the Chevalier turned carpenter, marking out 
the tenons and mortises of what timber he could get, and grow- 
ing daily more morose. In March he thought much might be 
done before autumn, and now autumn stands but one month 
removed from him, and not even a house built yet. 



1686. Disastrous Exjicdition. 49 

And August soon passed too, not without results, however ; 
for the timber that had been buried below was got up, and a 
second house built, "all covered with planks and bullock's 
hides over them." 

And now once more was La Salle ready to seek the Missis- 
sippi. First, he thought he would try with the last of the four 
barks with which he left France ; the bark La Belle, "a little 
frigate carrying six guns," which the King had given our Che- 
valier to be his navy. But, after having put all his clothes 
and valuables on board of her, he determined to try with 
twenty men to reach his object by land. This was in Decem- 
ber, 16S5. From this expedition he did not return until March, 
1686, when he came to his fort again, ragged, hatless, and 
worn down, Avith six or seven followers at his heels, his travels 
having been all in vain. It was not very encouraging; but, 
says Joutel, " we thought only of making ourselves as mer- 
ry as we could." The next day came the rest of the party, 
who had been sent to find the little frigate, which should have 
been in the bay. They came mournfully, for the little frigate 
could not be found, and she had all La Salle's best effects on 
board. 

The bark was gone ; but our hero's heart was still beating 
in his bosom, a little cracked and shaken, but strong and iron- 
bound still. So, borrowing some changes of linen from Jouiel, 
toward the latter end of April, he again set forth, he and 
twenty men, each with his pack, "to look for his river," as our 
WTiter aptly terms it. Some days after his departure, the bark 
La Belle came to light again ; for she was not lost, but only 
ashore. Deserted by her forlorn and diminished crew, how- 
ever, she seems to have been suffered to break up and go to 
pieces in her own way, for we hear no more of the little 
frigate. 

And now, for a time, things went on pretty smoothly. There 
was even a marriage at the fort ; and "Monsieur le Marquis 
la Sabloniere" wished to act as groom in a second, but Joutel 
absolutely refused. By and by, however, the men, seeing that 
La Salle did not return, "began to mutter." There were even 
proposals afloat to make away with Joutel, and start upon a 
new enterprise ; the leader in which half-formed plan was one 
Sieur Duhaut, an unsafe man, and inimical to La Salle, who 
had, probably, maltreated him somewhat. Joutel, however, 



50 Attempt an Overland Journey. 1687. 

learned the state of matters, and put a stop to all such pro- 
ceedings. Knowing idleness to be a root of countless evils 
he made his men Avork and dance as long as there was vigor 
enough in them to keep their limbs in motion ; and in such 
manner the summer passed away, until in August La Salle 
returned. He had been as far as the sources of the Sabine, 
probably, but had suffered greatly; of the twenty men he had 
taken with him, onl}'' eight came back, some having fallen 
sick, some having died, and others deserted to the Indians. He 
had not found "his river," though he had been so far in that 
direction ; but he came back full of spirits, "which," says our 
writer, "revived the lowest ebb of hope." He was all ready, 
too, to start again at once, to seek the Mississippi, and go on- 
ward to Canada, and thence to France, to get new recruits 
and supplies ; but, "it was determined to let the great heats 
pass before that enterprise was taken in hand.". And the 
heats passed, but with them our hero's health, so that the 
proposed journey was delayed from time to time until the 12th 
of January, 16S7. 

On that day started the last company of La Salle's adven- 
turers. Among them went Joutcl, and also the discontented 
Duhaut ; and all took their "leaves with so much tenderness 
and sorrow as if they had all presaged that they should never 
see each other more." They went northwest along the bank 
of the river on which their fort stood, until they came to 
where the streams running toward the coast were favorable, 
and then turned eastward. From the 12th of January until 
the 15th of March did the}' thus journey across that southern 
country, crossing "curious meadows," through which ran 
"several little brooks, of very clear and good water," which, 
witii the tall trees, all of a size, and planted as if by a line, 
"allbrded a most delightful land<;kip." They met many Indians 
too, with whom La Salle established relations of peace and 
friendship. Game was abundant, "plenty of fowl and par- 
ticularly of turkeys," was there, which was "an ease to their 
sufferings ;" and so they still toiled on in shoes of green bul- 
lock's hide, which, dried by the sun, pinched cruelly, until, 
following the trac!cs of the bullalocs, who choose by instinct 
the best ways, they had come to a pleasanter country than 
they had yet passed through, and were well on toward the 
long-iBought Father of Waters. 



1687. Assassination of La Salic. 51 

On the 15th of March, La Salle, recognizing the spot 
where they were as one through which he had passed in his 
former journey, and near which he had hidden some beans 
and Indian wheat, ordered the Sieurs Duhaut, Hiens, Liotot 
the Surgeon, and some others, to go and seek them. This 
they did, but found that the goods were all spoiled, so they 
turned toward the camp again. While coming campward 
they chanced upon two bullocks, which was killed by one of 
La Salle's hunters, who was with them. So they sent the 
commander word that they had killed some meat, and that, if 
he would have the flesh dried, he might send horses to carry it 
to the place where he lay; and, meanwhile, they cut up the 
bullocks, and took out the marrow-bones, and laid them aside 
for their own choice eating, as was usual to do. When La 
Salle heard of the meat that had been taken, he sent his 
nephew and chief confident, M. Moranget, with one De Male 
and his own footman, giving them orders to send all that was 
fit to the camp at once. M. Moranget, when he came to where 
Duhaut and the rest were, and found that they had laid by for 
themselves the marrow-bones, became angry, took from them 
their choice pieces, threatened them, and spoke harsh words. 
This treatment touched these men, already not well pleased, 
to the quick; and, when it was night, they took counsel to- 
gether how they might best have their revenge. The end of 
such counseling, where anger is foremost, and the wilderness 
is all about one, needs scarce to be told ; "we will have their 
blood, all that are of that party shall die," said these mal- 
contents. So, when M. Moranget and the rest had supped and 
fallen asleep, Liotot the surgeon took an axe, and with few 
strokes killed them all ; all that were of La Salle's party, even 
his poor Indian hunter, because he was faithful ; and, lest De 
Male might not be with them (for him they did not kill,) they 
forced him to stab M. Moranget, who had not died by the first 
blow of Liotot's axe, and then threw them out for the carrion- 
birds to feast on. 

This murder was done upon the i7th of March. And at 
once the murderers would have killed La Salle, but he and 
his men were on the other side of a river, and the Mater for 
two days was so high that they could not cross. 

La Salle, meantime, was growing anxious also ; his nephew 
so long absent, what meant it? and he went about asking if 



62 Posts in Illinois. 1687. 

Duhaut had not been a malcontent; but none said, Yes. 
Doubtless there was something in La Salle's heart, which told 
him his Ibllowers had cause to be his foes. It was now the 
20th of the month, and he could not forbear setting out to 
seek his lost relative. Leaving Joutel in command, therefore, 
he started with a Franciscan monk and one Indian. Coming 
near the hut which the murderers had put up, though still on 
the opposite side of the river, he saw carrion-birds hovering 
near, and to call attention if any were there, fired a shot. 
There were keen and watching ears and eyes there ; the gun 
told them to be quick, for their prey was in the net; so, at 
once, Duhaut and another crossed the river, and, while the 
first hid himself among the tall weeds, the latter showed him- 
self to La Salle at a good dstance off". Going instantly to 
meet him, the fated man passed near to the spot where Du- 
haut was hid. The traitor lay still till he came opposite; 
then, raising his piece, shot his commander through the head; 
after lingering an hour, he died. 

Thus fell La Salle, on the threshold of success. No man 
had more strongly all the elements that would have borne 
him safe through, if we except that element which insures 
affection. " He had a capacity and talent," says Joutel, one 
of his staunche-st friends, ''to make his enterprise successful; 
his constancy and courage, and extraordinary knowledge in 
arts and sciences, which rendered him fit for anything, together 
M'ith an indefatigable body, which made him surmount all 
difficulties, would have procured a glorious issue to his under- 
taking, had not all those excellent qualities been counterbal- 
anced by too haughty a behavior, which sometimes made him 
insupportable, and by a rigidness toward those that were 
under his command, which at last drew on him an implacable 
hatred, and was the occasion of his death." 

La Salle died, as far as can be judged, upon a branch of the 
Brazos.* 

And now, the leader being killed, his followers toiled on 
mournfully, and in fear, each of the others — Duhaut assuming 
the command until May. Then there arose a difterence 
among them as to their future course ; and, by and by, things 
coming to extremities, some of La Salle's murderers turned 
upon the others, and Duhaut and Liotot were killed by their 

'Sparks, 158. 



1688. Adventures of Tonti. 53 

comrades. This done, the now dominant party determined to 
remain among the Indians, with whom they then were, and 
where they found some who had been with La Salle in his 
former expedition, and had deserted. These were living among 
the savages, painted, and shaved, and naked, with great store 
of squaws and scalps. But Joutel was not of this way of think- 
ing ; he and some others still wished to find the Great River 
and get to Canada. At last, all consenting, he did, with six 
others, leave the main body, and take up his march for the 
Illinois, where he hoped to find Tonti, who should have been 
all this while at Fort St. Louis. This was in May, 16S7. 

With great labor this little band forced their heavy-laden 
horses over the fat soil, in which they often stuck fast; and, 
daring countless dangers, at length, upon the 24th of July, 
reached the Arkansas, where they found a post containing a 
few Frenchmen who had been placed there by Tonti. Here 
they stayed a little while, and then went forward again, and 
on the 14th of September, reached Fort St. Louis, upon the 
Illinois. At this post, Joutel remained until the following 
March — that of 16S8 — when he set off for Quebec, which city 
he reached on the last of July, just four years having passed 
since he sailed from Rochelle. 

Thus ended La Salle's third and last voyage, producing no 
permanent settlement; for the Spaniards came, dismantled 
the fort upon the Bay of St. Louis, and carried away its gar- 
rison, and the Frenchmen who had been left elsewhere in the 
southwest intermingled with the Indians, until all trace of 
them was lost. 

And so closed his endeavors in defeat. Yet he had not 
worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown open to France 
and the world an immense and most valuable country ; had 
established several permanent forts, and laid the foundation of 
more than one settlement there. Peoria, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, 
to this day, are monuments of La Salle's labors ; for though he 
founded neither of them, (unless Peoria, which was built nearly 
upon the sight of Fort Crevecoeur,) it was by those whom he 
led into the West, that these places were peopled and civilized. 
He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the Mississippi 
Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored.* 

*Tlie authorities in relation to La Salle are Hennepin; a narrative published in the 
name of Tonti in 1697, but disclaimed by him; (Charlevoix iii. S65.—Lettres Edifiantes, 



54 Mission of Father Gravier. 1689. 

Tonti, left by La Salle when he sailed for France, after 
reaching the Gulf Mexico in 16S2, remained as commander 
of that Rock Fort of St. Louis, which he had begun in 16S0. 
Here he sta3-cd, swaying absolutely the Indian tribes, and 
acting as viceroy over the unknown and uncounted French- 
men who were beginning to wander through that beautiful 
countr}', making discoveries of which we have no records left. 
In 16S6, looking to meet La Salle, he went down to the mouth 
of the Mississippi ; but discovering no signs of his old comrade, 
he turned northward again. [There is evidence that in this 
voyage he proceeded up the Arkansas, and left a corps of men 
at the place long known as the "Post," who became the nu- 
cleus of that ancient settlement.] After reaching his post on 
the Illinois, he found work to do ; for the Iroquois, long threat- 
ening, were now in the battle-field, backed b}' the English, 
and Tonti, with his western wild allies, was forced to march 
and fight. Engaged in this business, he appears to us at inter- 
vals in the pages of Charlevoix; in the fall of 1687 we have 
him with Joutel, at Fort St. Louis; in April, 1G89, he suddenly 
appears to us at Crevecoear, revealed by the Baron La Hon- 
tan ; and again, early in 1700, D'Iberville is visited by him at 
the mouth of the Mississippi. After that we see him no more, 
and the Biographie Vnivcrsclle tells us, that, though he re- 
mained m;iny years in Louisiana, he finally was not there ; 
but of his death, or departure thence, no one knows. 

Next in sequence, we have a glimpse of the above-named 
Baron La Hontan, discoverer of the Long River, and, as 
that discovery seems to prove, drawer of a somewhat long 
bow. By his volumes, published a la Haye, in 170G, we 
learn, that he too, warred against the Iroquois in 1687 and 
1688; and, having gone so far westward as the Lake of the 
Illinois, tliought he would contribute his mite to the discove- 
ries of those times. So, with a sutHcient escort, he crossed by 
Marquette's old route. Fox River and the Wisconsin, to the 
Mississippi ; and, turning up that stream, sailed thereon till 
he came to the mouth of a river, called Long River, coming 
from the West. [It is marked on the map of Mr. Nicollet, as 
a small stream entering the JMississippi a short distance belov/ 

letter of Marcst, xi. 30S, original edition. Introi.luction to Sparks' Life of La Salle:) the 
work of Lo Clercii, already lucntioued; Joutel'a Journal; and Sjiarka' Life: the last U 
especially valuable. 



1693. Kaskaskia and Cahokia Founded. 65 

St. Peters. He represents this river as of immense size, up 
which he sailed more than eighty days, and did not reach half 
the distance of its navigable waters, and that in the depth of 
winter ! Very little dependence can be placed on the story of 
La Hontan,] 

After La Hontan's alleged discoveries, we have few events 
worth recording in the annals of the north-west previous to 
1750. "La Salle's death," says Charlevoix, in one place, "dis- 
persed the French who had gathered upon the Illinois ;" but in 
another, he speaks of Tonti and twenty Canadians, as estab- 
lished among the Illinois three years after the Chevaliers fate 
was known there.* This, however, is clear that before 1693, 
the reverend Father Gravier began a mission among the 
Illinois, and became the founder of Kaskaskia, though in what 
year we know not ; but for some time it was merely a mis- . 
sionary station, and the inhabitants of the village consisted 
entirely of natives, it being one of three such villages, the other 
two being Cahokia and Peoria. This we learn from a let- 
ter written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated "Aux Cascaskias, 
autrement dit de I'Immaculee Conception de la Sainte Vierge, 
le 9 Novembre 1712." In this letter the writer, after telling 
us that Gravier must be regarded as the founder of the Illinois 
Missions, he having been the first to reduce the principles of 
the language of those Indians to grammatical order, and so 
to make preaching to them of avail, — goes on near the close 
of his epistle to say, "These advantages (rivers, &c.) favor the 
design which some French have of establishing themselves in 
our village. * * * If the French, who may come 
among us, will edify our neophytes by their piety and good 
conduct, nothing would please us better than their coming; 
but if immoral, and perhaps irreligious, as there is reason to 
fear, they would do more harm than we can do good."f 

Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, though in this case 
also we are ignorant of the year, the missionar}' Pinet gath- 
ered a flock at Cahokia ;J Mobile Peoria arose near the remains 

*.Vfiy France, vol. iii. pp. 395, 383. 

t Bancroft, iii. 195. Lettres EJifiantes, (Paris 1781,) 328, 339, 375. Ilall and others 
speak of the Kafikaskia records as containing deeds dated 1712; those may have been to 
the French referred to by Marest, or perhaps to converted Indians. 

j Bancroft, iii. 19G. 



56 Adventrires of D' Iberville. 1699. 

of Fort CrevecoBur.lJ An unsuccessful attempt was also made 
to found a colony on the Ohio,'^ it failed in consequence of 
sickness. In the north De la Motte Cadillac, in June, 1701, 
laid the foundation of Fort Pontchartrain on the Strait, (le 
Detroit)^! while in the southwest efforts were making to realize 
the dreams of La Salle. The leader in the last named enter- 
prise was Lemoine D'Iberville, a Canadian officer, who, from 
1694 to 1697, distinguished himself not a little by battles and 
conquests among the icebergs of the "Baye d'Udson" or Hud- 
son's Bay.* He having, in the year last named, returned to 
France, proposed to the minister to try, what had been given 
up since La Salle's sad fate, the discovery and settlement of 
Louisiana by sea. The Count of Pontchartrain, who was 
then at the head of marine affairs, was led to take an interest 
in the proposition; and, upon the l7th of October, 1698, 
D'lberville took his leave of France, handsomely equipped 
for the expedition, and with two good ships to forward him in 
his attempt. t 

Of this D'lberville we have no very cLear notion, except 
that he was a man of judgment, self-possession, and prompt 
action. 

Such was the man who, upon the 31st of January, 1699, let 
go his anchor in the Bay of Mobile. Having looked about 
him at this spot, he went thence to seek the great river called 
by the savages, says Charlevoix, "Malbouchia," and by the 
Spaniards, "la Palissade." from the great number of trees 
about its mouth. Searching carefully, upon the 2d of March, 

li There was an Old Peoria on the north-west shore of the lake of that n*me, a mile and 
a half above the outlet. From 177S to 1700 the inhabitants left this for New Peoria, (Fort 
Clark,) at the outlet, American State Papers, xviii. 470. 

2 Judge Law, in his address of February, 1839, before the Vinoennes Historical Society, 
contends that tkis post was on the Wabash, and at Vincennes, (p. 14, 15, and note B.) 
Charlevoix, (ii. 260, edition 1744,) says it was "a V entree it la Riviere Ouabache, qui le 
dccharge dans le ^ficis>ipi, §-c." — "At the entrance (or mouth) of the Rirer Oubache which 
discharges itself into the Mississippi." The name Ouabache was applied to the Ohio below 
the mouth of what we now call the Wabash. Soc all the more ancient maps, ic. [ Fort 
Maasac, on the Ohio, was a missionary station in 1712, and Ohio was then called Ouabache. 
— E.I.] 

^Charlevoix, ii. 234. — Le Detroit was the whole Strait from Erie to Huron. (Charlevoix, 
ii. 2G'J, note : sec also his Journal.) The fir.<t grants of land at Detroit, i. e. Fort Pont- 
chartrain, were made in 1707. — (See American State Papers, xvi. 20.3 to 2S4. Lanman's 
History of jMichigan, 336.) 

*fffv) France, vol. iii. pp. 215, 2*6.— Lef/rM Edijiantei, vol. S. p. 230. 
f Sew France, vol. iii. p. 377. 



1700. A British Vessel. 57 

our commander found and entered the Hidden River, whose 
mouth had been so long and unsuccessfully sought. As soon 
as this was done, one of the vessels returned to France to carry 
thither the news of D'Iberville's success, while he turned his 
prow up the Mississippi. Slowly ascending the vast stream, 
he found himself puzzled by the little resemblance which it 
bore to that described by Tonti. So great were the discrepan- 
cies, that he begun to doubt if he were not upon the wrong 
stream, when an Indian chief sent to him Tonti's letter to La 
Salle, on which, through thirteen years, those wild men had 
been looking with wonder and awe. Assured by this, that he 
had indeed reached the desired spot, and wearied probably by 
his tedious sail thus far, he returned to the Bay of Biloxi, be- 
tween the Mississippi and the Mobile waters, built a fort in 
that neighborhood, and, having manned it in a suitable manner, 
returned to France himself.* 

While he was gone, in the month of September, 1699, the 
lieutenant of his fort, M. De Bienville, went round to explore 
the mouths of the Mississippi, and' take soundings. Engaged 
in this business, he had rowed up the main entrance some 
twenty-five leagues, when, unexpectedly, and to his no little 
chagrin, a British corvette came in sight, a vessel carrying 
tv^relve cannon, slov/ly creeping up the swift current. M. 
Bienville, nothing daunted, though he had but his lea,ds and 
lines to do battle with, spoke up, and said, that, if this vessel 
liid not leave the river without delay, he had force enough at 
hand to make her repent it. All which had its effect ; the 
Britons about ship and stood to sea again, growling as the}? 
went, and saying, that they had discovered that country fifty- 
years before, that they had a better right to it than the French,, 
and would soon make them know it. The bend in the river,, 
where this took place, is still called "English Turn." This- 
was the first meeting of those rival nations in the Mississippi; 
Valley, which, from that day, was a bone of contention be- 
tween them till the conclusion of the French war of 1756. 
Nor did the matter rest long with this visit from the corvette.. 
Englishmen began to creep over the mountains from Caro- 
lina, and trading with the Chicachas, or Chickasaws of our' 
day, stirred them up to acts of enmity against the French. 

When D'Iberville came back from France, in January, 1700,, 

* New France, vol. iii. p. S80, et. seq, 

4 



58 Expedition of Le Sueur. 1708. 

and heard of these things, he determined to take possession of 
the country anew, and to build a fort upon the banks of the 
Mississippi itself. So, with due form, the vast valley of the 
West was again sworn in to Louis, as the whole continent 
through to the South Sea had been previously sworn in by 
the English to their Kings; and, what was more effectual, a 
little fort was built, and four pieces of cannon placed thereon. 
But even this was not much to the purpose ; for it soon disap- 
peared, and the marshes about the mouth of the Great River 
were again, as they had ever been, and long must be, unin- 
habited by men. 

D'Iberville, in the next place, having been visited and guided 
up the river by Tonti in 1700, proposed to found a city among 
the Natchez, — a city to be named, in honor of the Countess of 
Pontchartrain, Rosalie. Indeed, he did pretend to lay the cor- 
ner-stone of such a place, though it was not till 1714 that the 
fort called Rosalie was founded, where the city of Natchez is 
standing at this day. 

Having thus built a fort at the mouth of the Great River, 
and designated a choice spot above for a settlement, D'Iber- 
ville once more sought Europe, having, before he left, ordered 
M. Le Sueur to go up the Mississippi in search of a copper 
mine, which that personage had previously got a clue to, upon 
a branch of the St. Petera river;* which order was fulfilled, 
and much metal obtained, though at the cost of great suffer- 
ing. Mining was always a Jack-a-lantern with the first set- 
tlers of America, and our French friends were no wiser than 
their neighbors. The products of the soil were, indeed, scarce, 
ithough valuable on a large scale, it being supposed that the 
•wealth of Louisiana consisted in its pearl-fishery, its mines, 
.and the wool of its wild cattle. f In 1701 the commander 
came again, and began a new establishment upon the river 
Mobile, one which superseded that at Biloxi, which thus far 
had been the chief port in that southern colony. . After this, 
things went on but slowly until 1708 ; D'Iberville died on one 
of liis voyages between the mother country and her sickly 
daughtcir, and after his death little was done. In 1708, how- 
ever, M. D'Artaguette came from France as commissary of 

•Charlevoix, toI. ir. pp. 162, 164. In Long's Second Erpedition, p. 318, may be teen 
a detailed account of Le Sueur's procMdingi, taken from a manaachpt statement of them, 
j- Charlevoix, >Yol. iiL p. 389. 



1717. The Great Bank of Law. 59 

Louisiana, and, being a man of spirit and energy, did more 
for it than had been done before. But it still lingered ; and, 
under the impression that a private man of property might 
manage it better than the government could, the king, upon 
the 14th of September, 1712, granted to Crozat, a man of great 
M'^ealth, the monopoly of Louisiana for fifteen years, and the 
absolute ownership of whatever mines he might cause to be 
opened.* 

Crozat, with whom was associated Cadillac, the founder of 
Detroit, and Governor of Louisiana, relied mainly upon two 
things for success in his speculation ; the one, the discovery of 
mines; the other, a lucrative trade with New Mexico. In re- 
gard to the first, after many years' labor, he was entirely dis- 
appointed ; and met with no better success in his attempt to 
open a trade with the Spaniards, although he sent to them 
both by sea and land. 

Crozat, therefore, being disappointed in his mines and his 
trade, and having, withal, managed so badly as to diminish 
the colony, at last, in 1717, resigned his privileges to the king 
again, leaving in Louisiana not more than seven hundred 
souls.f 

Then followed the enterprises of the far-famed Mississippi 
Company or Company of the West, established to aid the im- 
mense banking and stock -jobbing speculations of John Law, 
a gambling, wandering Scotchman, who seems to have been 
possessed with the idea that wealth could be indefinitely in- 
creased by increasing the circulating medium in the form of 
notes of credit. The public debt of France was selling at 60 
to 70 per cent, discount ; Law was authorized to establish a 
Bank of circulation, the shares in which might be paid for in 
public stock at par, and to induce the public to subscribe for the 
bank shares, and to confide in them, the Company of the West 
was established in connection with the Bank, having the ex- 
clusive right of trading in the Mississippi country for twenty- 
five years, and with the monopoly of the Canada beaver trade. 
This was in September, 1717; in 1718 the monopoly of tobac- 
co was also granted to this favored creature of the State ; in 
1719, the exclusive right of trading in Asia, and the East 

* The grant may be foand, Land Laws 944. 

"J" By Louisiana here is to be understood Louisiana proper; not the Illinoifl country com- 
monly included at that period. — Ed. 



60 The Great Bankruptcy. 1722. 

Indies; and soon after the farming of the public revenue, to- 
gether with an extension of all these privileges to the year 
1770 ; and as if all this had been insufficient, the exclusive 
right of coining, for nine years, was next added to the im- 
mense grants already made to the Company of the West.* 
Under this hot bed system, the stock of the Company rose to 
500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and at last 2050 per cent.; this was 
in April, 1720. At that time the notes of the Bank in circula- 
tion exceeded two hundred millions of dollars, and this abun- 
dance of money raised the price of every thing to twice its 
true value. Then the bubble burst ; decree after decree was 
made to uphold the tottering fabric of false credit, but in vain; 
in January, 1720, Law had been made minister of finance, and 
as such he proceeded first, to forbid all persons to have on 
hand more than about one hundred dollars in specie, any 
amount beyond that must be exchanged for paper, and all 
payments for more than twenty dollars w^ere to be made in 
paper; and this proving in.sufficient, in March, all payments 
over two dollars were ordered to be in paper, and he who 
dared attempt to exchange a bill for specie forfeited both. 
Human folly could go no farther ; in xVpril the stock began to 
fall, in May the Company was regarded as bankrupt, the notes 
of the Bank fell to ten cents on the dollar, and though a de- 
cree made it an offence to refuse them at par, they were soon 
worth little more than waste paper. 

Under the direction of a Company thus organized and con- 
trolled, and closely connected with a bank so soon ruined, but 
little could be hoped for a colony, which depended on good 
management to develop its real resources for trade and agri- 
culture. f In 1718, colonists were sent from Europe, and New 
Orleans laid out with much ceremony and many hopes ; but 
in January, 1722, Charlevoix writing thence, says: "if the 
eight hundred fine houses and the five parishes that were two 
years since represented by the journals, as existing here, 
shrink now to a hundred huts, built vrithout order, — a large 
wooden magazine, — two or three houses that would do but 
little credit to a French village,— and half of an old store- 
house, which was to have been occupied as a chapel, but from 

* Aft-er 1719, called the Company of the Indies. 

fA set of regulations for goreming the Company, pessed in 1721, may be found in Dil- 
lon's Indiana, 41 to 41. 



1722 Condition of New Orleans. 61 

which the priests soon retreated to a tent as preferable, if all 
this is so, still how pleasant to think of what this city will one 
day be, and instead of weeping over its decay and ruin to look 
forward to its growth to opulence and power."* And again, 
"The best idea you can form of New Orleans, is to imagine 
two hundred persons, sent to build a city, but who have en- 
camped on the river-bank, just sheltered from the weather, 
and waiting for houses. — They have a beautiful and regular 
plan for this metropolis, but it will prove harder to execute 
than to draw."f Such, not in words precisely, but in sub- 
stance, were the representations and hopes of the wise his- 
torian of New France, respecting the capital of the colony 
of Law's great corporation ; and we may be sure that with 
the chief place in such a condition, not much had been done 
for the permanent improvement of the country about it. The 
truth was, the same prodigality and folly which prevailed in 
France during the government of John Law, over credit and 
commerce, found their way to his western possessions ; and 
though the colony then planted, survived, and the city then 
founded became in time what had been hoped, — it was long 
before the influence of the gambling mania of 1718, 19 and 
20 passed away. Indeed the returns from Louisiana never 
repaid the cost and trouble of protecting it, and, in 1732, the 
Company asked leave to surrender their privileges to the 
crown, a favor which was granted them. 

But though the Company of the West did little for the en- 
during welfare of the Mississippi valley, it did something; the 
cultivation of tobacco, indigo, rice and silk, was introduced, 
the lead mines of Missouri were opened, though at vast ex- 
pense and in hope of finding silver; and, in Illinois, the culture 
of wheat began to assume some degree of stability and, of 
importance. In the neighborhood of the river Kaskaskia, 
Charlevoix found three villages, and about Fort Chartres, the 
head quarters of the Company in that region, the French 
were rapidly settling.J 

All the time, however, during which the great monopoly 
lasted, was, in Louisiana, a time of contest and trouble. The 

*Charlevois, iii. 420— ed. 17 U. 
tCharlevoix, iii. 441— ed. 1744. 
JSce Appendix — Annals of Illinois. 



62 Destruction of the Natchez. 1729, 

English, who, from an early period, had opened commercial 
relations with the Chickasaws, through them constantly inter- 
fered with the trade of the Mississippi. Along the coast from 
Pensacola to the Rio del Norte, Spain disputed the claims of 
her northern neighbor : and at length the war of the Natchez 
struck terror into the hearts of both white and red men. Amid 
that nation, as we have said, D'Iberville had marked out Fort 
Rosalie, in 1700, and fourteen years later its erection had been 
commenced. The French, placed in the midst of the natives, 
and deeming them worthy only of contempt, increased their 
demands and injuries until they required even the abandon- 
ment of the chief town of the Natchez, that the intruders 
might use its site for a plantation. The inimical Chickasaws 
heard the murmurs of their wronged brethren, and breathed 
into their ears counsels of vengeance ; the sufferers determin- 
ed on the extermination of their tyrants. On the 28th of No- 
vember, 1729, every Frenchman in that colony died by the 
hands of the natives, with the exception of two mechanics : 
the women and children were spared. It was a fearful re- 
venge, and fearfully did the avengers suffer for their murders. 
Two months passed by, and the French and Choctaws in 
one day took sixty of their scalps; in three months they were 
driven from their country and scattered among the neighbor- 
ing tribes; and within two years the remnants of the nation, 
chiefs and people, were sent to St. Domingo and sold into 
slavery. So perished this ancient and peculiar race, in the 
same year in which the Company of the West yielded its 
grants into the royal hands. 

When Louisiana came again into the charge of the govern- 
ment of France, it was determined, as a first step, to strike 
terror into the Chickasaws, who, devoted to the English, con- 
stantly interfered with the trade on the Mississippi. For this 
purpose the forces of New France, from New Orleans to De- 
troit, were ordered to meet in the country of the inimical 
Indians, upon the 10th of May, 1736, to strike a blow which 
should be final. D'Artaguette, governor of Illinois, with the 
young and gallant Vincennes, leading a small body of French 
and more than a thousand northern Indians, on the day ap- 
pointed, was at the spot appointed ; but Bienville, who had 
returned as the king's lieutenant to that southern land which 
he had aided to explore, was not where the commanders from 



1736. D'Artaguette and Vincennes Killed. 63 

above expected to meet him. During ten days they waited, 
and still saw nothing, heard nothing of the forces from the 
south. Fearful of exhausting the scant patience of his red 
allies, at length D'Artaguette ordered the onset ; a first and a 
second of the Chickasaw stations were carried successfully, 
but in attacking a third the French leader fell ; when the Illi- 
nois saw their commander wounded, they turned and fled, 
leaving him and de Vincennes, who would not desert him, in 
the hands of the Chickasaws. Five days afterwards, Bien- 
ville and his followers, among whom were great numbers of 
Choctaws, bribed to bear arms again'st their kinsmen, came 
creeping up the stream of the Tombecbee ; but the savages 
were on their guard, English traders had aided them 1o fortify 
their position, and the French in* vain attacked their log fort. 
On the 20th of May, D'Artaguette had fallen ; on the 27th 
Bienville had failed in his assault ; on the 31st, throwing his 
cannon into the river, he and his white companions turned their 
prows to the south again. Then came the hour of barbarian 
triumph, and the successful Chickasaws danced around the 
flames in which were crackling the sinews of D'Artaguette, 
Vincennes, and the Jesuit Senat, who stayed and died of his 
own free will, because duty bade him. 

Three years more passed away, and again a French army 
of nearly four thousand white, red and black men, was gath- 
ered upon the banks of the Mississippi, to chastise the Chicka- 
saws. From the summer of 1739 to the spring of 1740, this 
foody of men sickened and wasted at Fort Assumption, upon 
the site of Memphis. In March of the last named year, with- 
out a blow struck, peace was concluded, and the province of 
Louisiana once more sunk into inactivity.* 

Of the ten years which followed, we know but little that is 
interesting in relation to the West: and of its condition in 
1750, we can give no better idea than may be gathered from 
the following extracts of letters written by Vivier, a missiona 
ry among the Illinois. 

Writing "Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, 
June 8th, 1750, Vivier says : "We have here, Whites, Negroes 

* In reference to Crozat, Law, and events in Louisiana, we refer to Bancroft iii. — Penny 
Cyclopedia, articles "Law;" "Mississippi Company;" Charlevoix, vol. ii.; Du Pratz's Louis- 
iana; Niles' Register, ii. 161, 189; and the collection of documents (mostly official) rela- 
tive to the Company of the West, published at Amsterdam, in 1720, in the work called 
"Relations de la Louisiane, et du Fleuve Mi£siesipi»," 2 vols. 



64 Population of Illinois. 1750. 

and Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five 
French villages, and three villages of the natives, within a 
space of twenty-one leagues, situated between the Mississippi 
and another river called the Karkadiad (Kaskaskia.) In the 
five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, 
three hundred blacks, and some sixty red slaves or savages. 
The three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hun- 
dred souls, all told.* Most of the French till the soil ; they 
raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes. 
Three times as much is produced as can be consumed ; and 
great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New Orleans." 
In this letter, also, Vivier says that which shows Father 
Marest's fears from French influence over the Indian neo- 
phytes to have been w^ell founded. Of the three Illinois 
towns, he tells us, one was given up by the missionaries as be- 
yond hope, and in a second but a poor harvest rewarded their 
labors; and all was owing to the bad example of the French, 
and the introduction by them of ardent spirits. f 

Again, in an epistle dated November 17, 1750, Vivier says : 
" For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi one 
sees no dwellings, the ground being too low to be habitable. 
Thence to New Orleans the lands are only partially occupied. 
New Orleans contains, black, white and red, not more, I 
think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all 
kinds of lumber, bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's 
grease ; and above all, pork and flour from the Illinois. These 
things create some commerce, forty vessels and more have 
come hither this year. Above New Orleans plantations are 
again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of Germans, 
some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five 
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, 
within five or six leagues, arc not less than sixty 'habitations.' 
Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have a 
garrison who are kept prisoners by their fear of the Chicka- 
saws and other savages. Here and at Point Coupee, they 
raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us 

* There was a fourth, (Peoria probablj',) eighty leagues distant, nearly as large as the 
throe referred to; this is stated in another part of the same letter. See appendix — An- 
nala of Illinois, art. Aborigines. — Ed. 

t Criminals, vagabonds and strumpets, were largely exported to Louifiiana, when the first 
Bcttlementa were mode. — Father Poisson in Lettres Edifiantes, (Paris, 17S1,) vi. 393, £c. 



1750. Lead and Copper Mines. 65 

to the Arkansas, where we have also a fort and garrison, for 
the benefit of river traders. There were some inhabitants 
about here formerly, but in 1748, the Chickasaws attacked the 
post, slew many, took thirteen prisoners, and drove the rest 
into the fort. From the Arkansas to the Illinois, near five 
hundred leagues,* there is not a settlement. There should, 
however, be a good fort on the Oubache, (Ohio) the only path 
by which the English can reach the Mississippi. In the Illi- 
nois are numberless mines, but no one to work them as they 
deserve. Some individuals dig lead near the surface, and 
supply the Indians and Canada. Two Spaniards, now here, 
who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are like those of 
Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find sil- 
ver under the lead ; at any rate the lead is excellent. There 
are also in this country copper mines beyond doubt, as from 
time to time large pieces are found in the streams."! 

*Distances are overrated in all the old French journals. The distance in fkot, was aboai 
500 English miles, instead of French leagues. 
fLettres Edifiantes, (Paris, 1781,) vii. 79 to 106. 
[See Annajs of Missouri, Appendix, for a Sketch of the Lead and Copper mineg.-r-EJ,] 



CHAPTER II. 
ENGLISH DISCOVERIES AND CLAIMS. 

English Discoveries by Virginia — By Pennsylvania — Daniel Coxe — British Purchases of 
the Five Nations — Ohio and other Companies formed — Agency of Gist — Fort attacked 
by the French, and the Natives killed and Traders carried to Canada — Gen. Washing- 
lon'a Mission — Preparations for War — Pittsburgh Taken. 

We have now sketched the progress of French discovery in 
the Valley of the Mississippi. The first travelers reached that 
river in 1673, and when the new year of 1750 broke upon the 
great wilderness of the West, all was still, except those little 
spots upon the prairies of Illinois, and among the marshes of 
Louisiana, which we have already named. Perhaps we 
ought also to except Vincennes, or St. Vincent's, on the Wa- 
bash,* as there is cause to believe that place was settled as 
early as 1735, at least. But the evidence in relation to this 
matter is of a kind which we think worth stating, not from 
the importance of the matter itself, but to illustrate the diffi- 
culty which besets an inquirer into certain points of our early 
western history. Volney, by conjecture, fixes the settlement 
of Vincennes about 1735 ;f Bishop Brute, of Indiana, speaks 
of a missionary station there in 1700, and adds, "The friendly 
tribes and traders called to Canada for protection, and then 
M. de Vincennes came with a detachment, I think, of Carig- 
nan, and was killed in 1735. "J Mr. Bancroft says a military 
establishment was formed there in 1716, and in 1742, a settle- 
ment of herdsmen took place. || Judge Law regards the post 
as dating back to 1710 or 1711, supposing it to be the same 
with the Ohio settlement noticed on page 30, and quotes also 
an Act of Sale, existing at Kaskaskia, (if we understand him 
aright,) which in January, 1735, speaks of M. de Vinsenne, as 
"Commandant au Poste de Ouabache."§ Again, in a petition 
of the old inhabitants at Vincennes, dated in November, 1793, 
we find the settlement spoken of as having been made before 
1742 ;•![ and such is the general voice of tradition. On the 

♦Also called Post St. Vincent's and Au Posto or O'Post. 

tVolncy's View, p. 336. 

JButlcr's Kentucky, Introduction, xiz., note. 

IHistory United Rates, iii. 346. 

JLaw's Address, 18;!9, p. 21. 

^American State Papers, xvi. 32. 



1735. Settlement of Vincennes. 67 

other hand, Charlevoix, who records the death of Vincennes, 
which took place among the Chickasaws, (see ante p. 63,) in 

1736, makes no mention of any post on the Wabash, or any- 
missionary station there ; neither does he mark any upon his 
map, although he gives even the British forts upon the Tennes- 
see and elsewhere. Vivier, a part of whose letters we have 
already quoted, says in 1750, nothing of any mission on the 
Wabash, although writing in respect to western missions, and 
speaks of the necessity/ of a fort upon the "Ouabache;" by this, 
it is true, he meant doubtless the Ohio, but how natural to refer 
to the post at Vincennes, if one existed. In a volume of "Me- 
moires" on Louisiana, compiled from the minutes of M. Du- 
mont and published in Paris, in 1753, but probably prepared 
1749,* though we have an account of the Wabash or St. 
Jerome, its rise and course, and the use made of it by the 
traders, not a word is found touching any fort, settlement or 
station on it. Vaudreuil, when Governor of Louisiana, in 
1751 mentions even then no post on the Wabash, although he 
speaks of the need of a post on the Ohio, near to where Fort 
Massac or Massacre was built afterwards, and names Fort 
Miami, on the Maumee.f The records of Vincennes, Judge 
Law says, show no earlier mission than 1749. J Still farther, 
in " The Present State of North America," a pamphlet pub- 
lished in London, in 1755, with which is a map of the French 
posts in the West, we have it stated that in 1750 a fort was 
founded at Vincennes, and that in 1754, three hundred families 
were sent to settle about it. 

Such is the state of proof relative to Vincennes: one thing 
however, seems certain, which is, that the Wabash was very, 
early frequented. Hennepin, in 1663-4, had heard of the 
"Hohio"; the route from the lakes to the Mississippi, by the 
Wabash, was explored in 1676 ;1| and in Hennepin's volume 

*Memoires Historiques sur La Louisiane, &c. 

[■fThere were /owr places called "Miami," or "Maumee;" one at the junction of the Little 
St. Joseph and Ste. Marie, in Indiana, now called Fort Wayne. 

The second was on the St. Joseph river of Michigan. 

The third was on the Illinois river, and placed by Charlevoix on his Map of New France 
1723. 

The fourth was the fort erected by the British at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, 
about fifteen miles from the west end of Lake Erie. 

Some of the authorities quoted, by the " Ouabache " mean the Ohio river, which had the 
name of "Ouabache," in French and English documents until about 1736. — Ed.] 

J Address, p. 17. 

JHifltoire General des*\'oyages, xiv. 758. 



e8 The British in the West. 1749. 

of 1698, is a journal, said to be that sent by La Salle to Count 
Frontenac, in 1682 or '3, which mentions the route by the 
Maumee* and Wabash as the most direct to the great western 
river. 

In 1749, therefore, when the English first began to move 
seriously about sending men into the West, there were only 
the Illinois and the lower country settlements, and perhaps 
^incennes; the present States of Ohio, Indiana, and Ken- 
tucky, being still substantially in possession of the Indians. 
From this, however, it must not be inferred that the English 
colonists were ignorant of, or indiflerent to, the capacities of 
the West, or that the movements of the French were unob- 
served up to the middle of the eighteenth century. Governor 
Spotswood, of A^'irginia, as early as 1710, had commenced 
movements, the object of which was to secure the country 
beyond the AUcghenies to the English crown. He caused the 
mountain passes to be examined, and with much pomp and a 
great retinue, undertook the discovery of the regions on their 
western side. Then it was that he founded " The Tramontine 
Order," giving to each of those who accompanied him a golden 
horse shoe, in commemoration of their toilsome mountain 
march, upon which they were forced to use horse-shoes, which 
were seldom needed in the soft soil of the eastern vallies. In 
Pennsylvania, also, Governor Keith and James Logan, Secre- 
tary of the Province, from 1719 to 1731 represented to the 
powers in England, the necessity of taking steps to secure 
the western lands, j Xotliing, however, was done by the gov- 
ernment of the mother country, except to take certain diplo- 
matic steps to secure the claim of Britain to those distant and 
unexplored wildernesses. 

England, from the outset, claimed from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, on the ground that the discovery and possession of the 
seacoast was a discovery and possession of the country ; and, 
as is well known, her grants to Virginia, Connecticut, and 
other colonies were through to the South Sea. It was not 
upon this, however, that Great Britain relied in her contest 
with P>ance ; she Lad other grounds, namely, actual discovery, 
and purchase or title of some kind from the Indian owners. 

•Until this century, usually called the Miami, an<l sometimes the Tnwa or Ottawa River 
fBancroft, iii. 3M; Jones' rrcscnt State of Virginia, (1724,) 14; Universal History, 
■>\. 192. 



1742. British Explorations. 69 

Her claim on the score of actual discovery was poorly sup- 
ported however, and little insisted on. 

"King Charles the First, in the fifth year of his reign (1630) 
granted unto Sir Robert Heath, his attorney general, a patent 
of all that part of America/' which lies between thirty-one 
and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea to sea. Eight 
years afterwards. Sir Robert conveyed this vcr}^ handsome 
property to Lord Maltravers, who was soon, by his father's 
death. Earl of Arundel. From him, we know not by what 
course of conveyance, this grant, which formed the province 
of Carolana (not Carolina,) came into the hands of Dr. Dan- 
iel Coxe, who was, in the opinion of the attorney-general of 
England, true owner of that Province in the year of D'lber- 
ville's discovery, 1699.* 

[We will give a brief sketch of the British through the dis- 
coveries of Coxe and others. 

Daniel Coxe states that one Colonel Wood of Virginia, dis- 
covered at different times, several branches of the great rivers 
Ohio and "Meschasebe," — says that he, (Coxe,) had seen the 
journal of a Mr. Needham, who was employed by Col. Wood. 
He tells of another journal, which he affirms was in his pos- 
session for some time, written by some one in English, who 
had gone up the Mississippi to the "Yellow or Muddy river, 
otherwise called the Missouri," — that a number of persons 
went from New England one hundred and fifty leagues beyond 
the river "Meschasebe," to New Mexico. He claims to have 
made discoveries himself, by saiHngup the Mississippi in 169S. 
This was probably the English expedition met by Bienville at 
the "English Turn." These statements of Dr. Coxe are 
found in his "Memorial to King William," but are unsup- 
ported by any other authority except his voyage up the Mis- 
sissippi when he came in contact with Bienville, and made 
the "English Turn." 

There is a tradition,! that in 1742 John Howard crossed the 
mountains of Virginia, went down the Ohio in a canoe made 
of a buffaloe skin, and was taken prisoner by the French on 
the Mississippi. In the London edition of Du Pratz, published 

* A Description of the English Province of Carolana, 4-c., by Daniel Coxo, Esquire- 
London 1722, pp. 113 et seq. By "Carolana," Coxo includes what is called the "Valley of 
the Mississippi," and not the States of "Carolina." — Ed. 

tKercheval'e VaUey of Virginia. 



70 Purchase from the Iroquois. 1754. 

in 1774, the same facts of Howard are stated in a note, and 
reference given to an official report of tfie Governor of Vir- 
ginia. This visit of Howard, though it could give the gov- 
ernment no claim to this Valley, is mentioned as the first 
English exploration to the Ohio and Mississippi which is 
fairly authenticated. 

The next adventurer under British authority was Conrad 
Weiser, an Interpreter to the Indians, in 1748. Weiser was 
sent from Philadelphia to the Indians at Logstown on the 
Ohio river, between Pittsburgh and Big Beaver creek, to carry 
presents and a friendly "talk ;" and English traders are refer- 
red to as residing in that vicinity. That "traders" resided 
amongst the Indians on the Ohio at an early period, is well 
authenticated. 

The Government of Pennsylvania recalled its traders from 
Ohio in 1732, in consequence of troubles with the French. 
The Indians at a council in Albany, in 1754, acknowledged 
the English had been on the Ohio thirty years. 

Mr. Butler, in his History of Kentucky, Introduction to the 
second edition, gives the adventures of one "Sailing," in the 
West, as early as 1730, but in a note to Du Pratz, he is named 
as having been with Howard in 1742. 

But the principal ground of claim of the British to the 
country west of the Alleghenies, was by treaties of purchase 
from the "Five Nations," or Iroquois. This was the only con- 
federacy of Indian tribes that deserved the name of govern- 
ment in this part of North America. They had the rude ele- 
ments of a confederated republic, and they were the con- 
querors of most of the other tribes from Lower Canada to the 
Mississippi and even beyond. The facts and proofs of these 
conquests will be found in the Appendix. Different from the 
policy of all the other tribes, they left the conquered nations 
to manage their own internal affairs as they might choose, 
but exacted tributes, and especially claimed the right as con- 
querors to dispose of their country. On this right the Five 
Nations sold in treaty with the British authorities, the country 
on the Ohio, including Western Virginia, and Kentucky; a 
large part of Illinois, and the country along the northern 
lakes into Upper Canada. 

Waiving for the present, all questions as to the justice of 
their claims, we only state a fact now fully established, that 



1754. Claims of the English. 71 

this confederacy did set up claims to the whole countr)^ now 
embraced in Kentucky and Western Virginia north of the 
Cherokee claims, and the Northwestern Territory except a 
district in Ohio and Indiana and a small section in South- 
western Illinois, which was claimed and held by the Miami 
confederacy. 

In 1684, Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a treaty 
with the Five Nations, at Albany, when at the request of 
Colonel Dungan, Governor of New York, they placed them- 
selves under the protection of the British nation.* They 
made a deed of sale by treaty to the British Government of a 
vast tract of country South and East of the Illinois river, and 
extending across Lake Huron into Canada. 

Another formal deed was drawn up, and signed by the 
Chiefs of the National Confederacy in 1726, by which their 
lands were conveyed in trust to England, "to be protected and 
defended by his Majesty, to and for the use of the grantors 
and their heirs."t 

If, then, the Six Nations had a good claim to the western 
country, there could be but little doubt that England was justi- 
fied in defending that country against the French, as France, 
by the treaty of Utrecht, had agreed not to invade the lands 
of Britain's Indian allies. But this claim of the New York 
savages has been disputed. Among others General William 
H. Harrison has attempted to disprove it, and show, that the 
Miami confederacy of Illinois and Ohio could not have been 
conquered by the Iroquois.J We shall not enter into the con- 
troversy ; but will only say, that to us the evidence is very 
strong, that, before 1(580, the Six Nations had overrun the 
western lands, and were dreaded from Lakes Erie and Michi- 
gan to the Ohio, and west to the Mississippi. In 1673, Allouez 
and Dablon found the Miamis upon Lake Michigan, fearing a 
visit from the Iroquois,§ and from this time forward we hear 

* Plain Facts, Philadelphia, 1781, pp. 22, 23. 

"fThis may be found at length in Pownall'a Administration of the Colonies, fourth edition, 
London, 1763, p. 269. 

JSee Harrison's Historical Address, 1837. 

General llaniion, probably, was not aware the Iroquois made their ingress and egress 
into the Illinois country by the Ohio and the Lakes. Wo have no evidence they conquer- 
ed the Miami confederacy, and at one period the two confederacies appear to have been 
confirmed by terms. — Ed. 

g George Croghan, the Indian agent, took an oath that the Iroquois claimed no farther 
oa the north Bide of the Ohio than the Great Miami or Stony river; (called also Rocky 



*J2 Western Lands claimed by ihe Britisli. 1744. 

of them in that far land from all writers, genuine and spuri- 
ous, as may be easily gathered from \vhat Ave have said 
already of Tonti and his wars.* We cannot doubt, therefore, 
that they did overrun the lands claimed by them, and even 
planted colonies in what is now Ohio ; but that they had any 
claim, which a Christian nation should have recognized, to 
most of the territory in question, we cannot for a moment, 
think, as for half a century at least it had been under the rule 
of other tribes, and, when the difference between France and 
England began, was, with the exception of the lands just 
above the head of the Ohio, the place of residence and the 
hunting-ground of other tribes. f 

But some of the western lands were also claimed by the 
British, as having actually been purchased. This purchase 
was said to have been made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 
1744, when a treaty was held between the colonists and the 
Six Nations, relative to some alleged settlements that had 
been made upon the Indian lands in Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
and jMaryland ; and to this treaty, of which we have a very 
good and graphic account, written by Witham Marshe, who 
went as secretary with the commissioners for Maryland, we 
now turn. The IMaryland commissioners reached Lancaster 
upon the 21st of June, before either the governor of Penn- 
sylvania, the Virginia commissioners, or the Indians had arri- 
ved ; though all but the natives came that evening. 

The next forenoon wore wearily away, and all were glad 
to sit d'»wn, at one o'clock, to a dinner in the court-house, 
which the Virginians gave their friends, and from which not 
many were drawn, even by the coming of the Indians, who 
came, to the number of two hundred and fifty-two, with squaws 
and little children on horseback, and with their fire-arms, and 
bows, and arrows, and tomahawks, and, as they passed the 

river, Great Mincami; and Assercniet.) Ilutchin's Geographical Description, 25. Tho 
piiqwrt of this oath has Lecu niisundcrstood, it says nothing of what the Iroquois trans- 
ferred to En^lond in 176S. See Butler's Kentucljy, 5, 6.— Hall's Statistics of tho AYest, 
Preface, viii. Butler's Chronology, 9.— The oath is given, American State PaiH}r3, XAii. 
110. 

*Scc Charlovoi.x, Do La Ilontan, Hennepin, Tonti, Ac 

f ''In 1774, when the Lancaster treaty was held with the Six Nations, some of their 
•■ number were making war ui^->n the Catawbas." — !5Iarsh'3 Journal, Ma!sa«husetta Hiftori- 
cal Collections, vol. vii. pp. 190, 19 1. 

[Sec the facts stated In the AppcndLv, Annals of Illinois, Art. Aborigines.] 



1748. Ohio Company Proposed. 73 

court-house, invited the white men with a song to renew their 
former treaties. Cn the outskirts of the town, vacant lots 
had been chosen for the savages to build their wigwams upon, 
and thither they marched on with Conrad Weiser, their friend 
and interpreter,* while the Virginians " drank the loyal 
healths," and finished their entertainment. [Here follows a 
minute description of the drunkenness and festivity of the 
Indians, which continued at intervals for several days. It 
appears, however, in Marshe's journal, that the chiefs "nar- 
rowly scanned" the goods paid by the commissioners of 
Maryland for the lands that colony purchased, amounting to 
£220 Pennsylvania currency. The commissioners of Virginia 
paid £200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with a promise 
that as settlements increased more should be paid.] The 
commissioners from Virginia, at this treaty of Lancaster, 
were Col. Thomas Lee and Col. William Beverly.f 

On the 5th of July, everything having been settled satisfac- 
torily, the commissioners left " the filthy town " of Lancaster, 
and took their homeward way, having suffered much from the 
vermin and the water, though when they used the latter 
would be a curious enquiry. 

Such was the treaty of Lancaster, upon which, as a corner- 
stone, the claim of the colonists to the West, by purchase^ 
rested ; and upon this, and the grant from the Six Nations, 
Great Britain relied in all subsequent steps. 

As settlements extended, and the Indians murmured, the 
promise of further pay was called to mind, and Weiser was 
sent across the Alleghenies to Logstown, in I748,J with pre- 
sents, to keep the Indians in good humor; and also to sound 
them, probably, as to their feeling with regard to large settle- 
ments in the West, which some Virginians, with Col. Thomas 
Lee, the Lancaster commissioner, at their head, were then 
contemplating.§ The object of these proposed settlements 

*ror some idea of Weiser, see Proud's History of Penmylvania, vol. ii., p. 316, where 
a. long letter by him is given. Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, 134. 

"f Plain Facts, being an Examination, ^-c, and a Vindication of the Grant from the / 
Six United Nations of Indians to the Proprietors of Indiana, vs. the Decision of the Lcnis- V 
lalure of Virginia. Pp. 29-39. Philadelphia: R. Aitkcn. 1781, Sparks' Washington, 
vol. ii. p. 480. Marshe's Joiimal. The whole proceedings may be found in Colden's His- 
tory of the Iroquois, given with proper formal solemnity. 

tPlain Facts, pp. 40, 119, 120. 

^Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 478. Scarce anything was known of the old Ohio Com- 
pany, until Mr. Spark's inquiries led to the note referred to; and even now so littleia 
5 



74 Ohio Company. 1750. 

was not the cultivation of the soil, but the monopoly of the 
Indian trade, which, with all its profits, had till that time 
been in the hands of unprincipled men, half civilized, half 
savage, who, through the Iroquois, had from the earliest period 
penetrated to the lakes of Canada and competed everywhere 
with the French for skins and furs.* It was now proposed in 
Virginia to turn these fellows out of their good berth beyond 
the mountains, by means of a great company, which should 
hold lands and build trading-houses, import European goods 
regularly, and export the furs of the West in return to Lon- 
don. Accordingly, after Weiser's conference with the Indians 
at Logstown, which was favorable to their views, Thomas Lee, 
with twelve other Virginians, among whom were Lawrence 
and Augustine, brothers of George Washington, and also Mr. 
Hanbury of London, formed an association which they called 
the " Ohio Company," and ip. 1748, petitioned the king for a 
grant beyond the mountains. This petition was approved by 
the monarch, and the government of Virginia was ordered to 
grant to the petitioners half a million of acres within the 
bounds of that colony, beyond the Alleghenies, two hundred 
thousand of which were to be located at once. This portion 
was to be held for ten years free of quit-rent, provided the 
company would put there one hundred families within seven 
years, and build a fort sufficient to protect the settlement; all 
which the company proposed, and prepared to do at once, 
and sent to London for a cargo suited to the Indian trade, 
which was to come out so as to arrive in November, 1749. 

Other companies were also formed about this time in Vir- 
ginia, to colonize the West. Upon the 12th of June, 1749, a 
grant of 800,000 acres, from the line of Canada, on the north 
and west, was made to the Loyal Company; and, upon the 
29th of October, 1751, another of 100,000 acres to the Careen- 
briar Company.f 

But the French were not blind all this while. They saw, 
that if the British once obtained a strong-hold upon the Ohio, 

known, that we cannot but Iioim; some Historical Society will prevail on Charles Fcnton 
Mercer, formerly of Virginia, who holds the pajx^rs of that Company, to allow their publi- 
cation. No full history of the West can be written, until the facts relative to the great 
land companies are better known. 

•Seo Charlevoix, first and second volume in many places; especially i. 502, 515, ii. 133, 
269, 373. The English were at Mackinac as early as 1686. 

IRovised Statutes of Virginia, by W. B. Leigh, ii. 347. 



1749. Movements of the French. 75 

they might not only prevent their settlements upon it, but 
must at last come upon their lower posts, and so the battle be 
fought sooner or later. To the danger of the English pos- 
sessions in the West, Vaudreuil, the French governor, had 
been long alive. Upon the 10th of May, 1744, he wrote 
home representing the consequences that must come from 
allowing the British to build a trading-house among the 
Creeks;* and, in November, 1748, he anticipated their seizure 
of Fort Prudhomme, which was upon the Mississippi below 
the Ohio.f Nor was it for mere sickly missionary stations 
that the governor feared; for, in the year last named, the Illi- 
nois settlements, few as they were, sent flour and corn, the 
hams of hogs and bears, pickled pork and beef, myrtle wax, 
cotton, tallow, leather, tobacco, lead, iron, copper, some little 
buffalo wool, venison, poultry, bear's grease, oil, skins, and 
coarse furs to the New Orleans market. Even in 1746, from 
five to six hundred barrels of flour, according to one authority, 
and two thousand according to another, went thither from 
Illinois, convoys annually going down in December with the 
produce. J Having these fears, and seeing the danger of the 
late movements of the British, Gallisoniere, then Governor of 
Canada, determined to place along the Ohio, evidences of the 
French claim to, and possession of the country ; and for that 
purpose, in the summer of 1749, sent Louis Celeron with a 
party of soldiers, to place plates of lead, on which were writ- 
ten out the claims of France, in the mounds, and at the 
mouths of the rivers. § Of this act William Trent, who was 
sent out in 1752, by Virginia, to conciliate the Indians, heard 
while upon the Ohio, and mentioned it in his Journal; and 
within a few years, one of the plates, with the inscription 

* Pownall's Memorial on Service in America, as before quoted. Vaudreuil came out as 
Governor of Canada in 1755. — Massachusetts Historical Collections, vol. vii., p. 105. See 
also Holmes Annals, vol. ii. p. 23. 

tPownall's Memorial. 

JIbid. Representations to Earl of Hillsborough, 1770, quoted in Filson's Kentuclsy, 
1784: also, in Ilutcliins' Geographical Description, p. 15. 

§ Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. ■430. Atwater's History of Ohio, first edition, p. 109. 
Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society, vol. ii. pp. 535-641. De Witt Clinton 
received the plate mentioned in the text from Mr. Atwater, who says it was found at the 
mouth of the Muskingum, though marked as having been placed at the mouth of the Ve- 
nango (Yenangue) river, (French Creek, we presume.) Celeron wrote from an old Shawnee 
town on the Ohio to Governor Ilamilton of Pennsylvania, respecting the intrusion of tra- 
ders from that colony into the French dominions. Mmutes of the Council of Pennsylva- 
nia, quoted in Dillon's History of Indiana, 1. 66. 



76 GisVs Exploration. 1751. 

partly defaced, has been found near the mouth of the Muskin- 
gum. Of this plate, the date upon which is August 16th, 1749, 
a particular account was sent, by De Witt Clinton, to the 
American Antiquarian Society, in whose second volume (p. 
535-41) the inscription may be found at length. By this 
step, the French, perhaps, hoped to quiet the title of the 
river, " Oyo ;" but it produced not the least result. In that 
very year, we are told, a trading-house was built by the Eng- 
lish, upon the Great Miami, at the spot since called Loramie's 
Store ;* while, from another source, we learn, that two traders 
were, in 1749, seized by the French upon the Maumee. At 
any rate, the storm was gathering; the English company was 
determined to carry out its plan, and the French were deter- 
mined to oppose them. 

During 1750, we hear of no step, by either party; but in 
February, 1751, wc find Christopher Gist, the agent who had 
been appointed by the Ohio Company to examine the western 
lands, upon a visit to the Twigtwees or Tuigtuis, who lived 
upon the Miami River, one hundred and thirty miles from its 
mouth. t In speaking of this tribe, Mr. Gist says nothing of a 
trading-house among them, (at least in the passage from his 
Journal quoted by Mr. Sparks,) but he tells us, they left the 
Wabash for the salie of trading with the English ; and we have 
no doubt, that the spot which he visited was at the mouth of 
Loramie's Creek, where, as we have said, a trading-house 
was built about or before this time. Gist says, the Twigtwees 
were a very numerous people, much superior to the Six Na- 
tions, and that they were formerly in the French interest. 
Wynne speaks of them as the same with the Ottowas; but Gist 
undoubtedly meant the great Miamis confederacy; for he says 
that they are not one tribe, but " many different tribes, under 
the same form of government."J [The journey of Gist com- 

* Contest in America, by an Impartial Hand. Once this writer speaks of this post as 
upon th« Wabash, but he doubtless meant that on the Miami. 
■fSparks' Washington, vol. ii. p- 37. 

JSee Harrison's Discourse, already quot«d. Franklin, following a Twigtweo chief pre- 
sent at Carlisle, in 1753, (Minutes of that Council, p. 7. Sparks' Franklin, vol. iv. p. 71,) 
speaks of the Piankeshaws, a tribe of the Twigtwees; and again, of the Miamis or Twig- 
twees (ibid. vol. iii. p. 72.)I Tho name is spelt in the Minutes of the Provincial Council of 
Pennsylvania, Twechtwese, and they are described as those Indians, called by tho French, 
Miamis, (iii. 479.) On Evans' map, of 1755, they are called Tawisti, and are mentioned 
among the confederated nations of the West. See also General Ilarrison's letter of March 
22, ISU, in McAfee, p. 43. 



1751. Conference at Logstown. 77 

menced October 31, 1750, and lasted until May 1751. From 
the head of the Potomac, he went to the forks of the Ohio 
(Pittsburgh), thence across what is now the State of Ohio to 
the mouth of the Scioto ; then to the Tvvigtwee towns on the 
Miami; from thence r^urned to the Scioto, then followed 
the Ohio to within fifteen miles of the Falls, which he dared 
not visit on account of the Indians there ; and thence returned 
to the settlements by Kentucky river and Cumberland Gap. 
A journal of his tour was published as an Appendix to Pow- 
nall's Topography, London, 1776; and large extracts are 
given by Dr. Hildreth.*] 

Having thus generally examined the land upon the Ohio, 
in November Gist commenced a thorough survey of the tract 
south of the Ohio and east of the Kanawha, which was that 
on which the Ohio Company proposed to make their first 
settlement. He spent the winter in that labor. In 1751, also, 
General Andrew Lewis, commenced some surveys in the 
Greenbriar country, on behalf of the company already men- 
tioned, to which one hundred thousand acres of land had 
been granted in that region ;t but his proceedings, as well as 
Gist's, were soon interrupted. Meanwhile no treaty of a defi- 
nite character had yet been held with the western Indians ; 
and, as the influence both of the French and of the indepen- 
dent English traders, was against the company, it was thought 
necessary to do something, and the Virginia government was 
desired to invite the chiefs to a conference at Logstown, 
which was done. 

All this time the French had not been idle. They not only 
stirred up the savages, but took measures to fortify certain 
points on the upper waters of the Ohio, from which all low- 
er posts might be easily attacked, and, beginning at Presqu'Ile, 
or Erie, on the lake, prepared a line of communication with 
the Allegheny. This was done by opening a wagon-road from 
Erie to a little lake lying at the head of French Creek, where 
a second fort was built, about fifteen miles from that at Erie. 
When this second fort was made, we do not clearly learn ; but 

'^Pownall's work was a folio of 46 pages, called, "Topographical Description of such 
porta of North America as are contained in the annexed Map." The Map was Evans'. 
Gist's Journal occupies ten pages. MS. Letters of L. C. Draper and Dr. Sparks to Mr. 
Perkim. — Ed. 

t Stuart's Memoir of Indian War. Border Warfare, 48. 



78 First English Settlement Destroyed. 1750. 

some time in 1752, we believe.* But lest, while these little 
castles were quietly rising amid the forest, the British also might 
strengthen themselves too securely to be dislodged, a party of 
soldiers was sent to keep the Ohio clear; and this party, 
early in 1752, having heard of the trading-house upon the 
Miami, and, very likely, of the visit to it by Gist, came to the 
Twigtwees and demanded the traders, as unauthorized intru- 
ders upon French lands. The Twigtwees, however, were 
neither cowards nor traitors, and refused to deliver up their 
friends.f The French, assisted by the Ottowas aad Chip- 
pewas, then attacked the trading-house, [where several fami- 
lies lived,] which was probably a block-house, aiwl after a 
severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed,^ 
and others wounded, took and destroyed it, carrjing the tra- 
ders away to Canada as prisoners, or, as one account says, 
burning some of them alive. This fort, or trading-house, was 
called by the English writers Pickawill any .§ 

Such was the fate of the first British settlement in the Ohio 
valley, of which we have any record. It was destroyed early 
in 1752, as we know by the fact, that its destruction was re- 
ferred to by the Indians at the Logstown treaty in June. 
What traders they were who were taken, we do not know 
with certainty. Some have thought them agents of the Ohio 
Company ; but the Gist's proceedings about the Kanawha do 
not favor the idea, neither do the subsequent steps of the 
company ; and in the "History of Pennsylvania,*' ascribed to 
Franklin, we find a gift of condolence made by that Province 
to the Twigtwees for those slain in defence of the traders 

♦Washington's Journal of 1753. — Mante, in his History of the War, says, early in 1753, 
but there was a post at Erie when the traders were taken, before June, 1752. 

fSparks' TrankUn, vol. iv. p. 71. — vol. iii.p. 2?0. Plain Facts, p. 42. Contest in \orth 
Amerita, &c. j>. SQ. Western Monthly Magazine, 1S33. This fort was always, referred to 
in the early treaties of the United States with the Indians ; see Land Laws and Treaties, 
post. Several other captures beaido this are referred to by Franklin and others. The 
attack on Logstown, spoken of by Smollett and Russell, was doubtless this attack on the 
Miami post. Smollett; George II. chap. is. See also Burk's Virginia, vol. iii. p. 170. 

JAmong them a king of the Piankeshaws. (Minutes of the Council of Carlisle, 1753.) 
From those Minutes we learn also that the Ottowas and Chipi^ewas aided the French. 

2 Washington's Journal (London, 1754) has a map on which the name is printed "Pik- 
kawalinna." — A memorial of the king's minister, in 1755, refers to it as "Pickawillanes, 
in the centre of the territory between the Ohio and the Wabash." Sparks' Franklin, vol. 
iv. p. S.'IO.) The name is probably some variation of Piqua or Pickaway: in 1773, written 
by Rev. David Jones "Pickawake." (Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 265.) 



1752 Treaty Negotiations. 79 

among them, in 1752, which leads us to believe that they were 
independent merchants from that colony.* 

Blood had now been shed, and both parties became more 
deeply interested in the progress of events in the West. The 
English, on their part, determined to purchase from the Indians 
a title to the lands they wished to occupy, by fair means or 
foul ; and, in the spring of 1752, Messrs, Fry,f Lomax, and Pat- 
ton, were sent from Virginia to hold a conference with the na- 
tives at Logstown, to learn what they objected to in the treaty 
of Lancaster, of which it was said they complained, and to 
settle all difficulties.^ On the 9th of June, the commissioners 
met the red men at Logstown : this was a little village, seven- 
teen miles and a half below Pittsburgh, upon the north side 
of the Ohio.§ It had long been a trading point, but had been 
abandoned by the Indians in 1750.|| Here the Lancaster treaty 
was produced, and the sales of the western lands insisted 
upon ; but the chiefs said, "No : they had not heard of any 
sale west of the warrior's road,T| which ran at the foot of the 
Allegheny ridge." The commissioners then offered goods for 
a ratification of the Lancaster treaty ; spoke of the proposed 
settlement by the Ohio Company ; and used all their persua- 
sions to secure the land wanted. L^pon the 11th of June, the 
Indians replied : "They recognized the treaty of Lancaster, 
and the authority of the Six Nations to make it, but denied 
that they had any knowledge of the western lands being con- 
veyed to the English by said deed ; and declined, upon the 

* The Twigtwees met the Pennsylvanians at Lancaster, in July, 1748, and made a 
treaty with them. (Dillon's Indiana, i. G3.) Croghan, also, (Butler's Kentucky, 471,) 
speaks of them as connected with Pennsj'lvania. The Shawnees, from the West, went to 
Philadelphia to make treaties, in 1732. (Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylva- 
nia, iii. 491.) 

"["Afterwards Commander in Chief over Washington, at the commencement of the French 
war of 17§5— 63 ; he died at Will's Creek, (Cumberland) May 31. 1754. Sparks' Wash- 
ington, ii. 27- not«. 

j Plain Facts, p. 40. — Sparks' Washington, vol. iL p. 480. 

§ Croghan, in his JowmaZ says, that Logstown was soufA of the Ohio. (Butler's Ken- 
tuckj', App.) The river is itself nearly north and south at the spot in question ; but we 
always call the Canada side the north side, having reference to the general direction of the 
stream. 

f; Bancroft's Exptdition, London, 1766, p. 10. — Logstown is given on the map accompany- 
ing the volume. 

•[ Washington (Sparks' ii. 526,) speaks of a warrior's path coming out upon the Ohio 
about thirty miles above the Great Kanawha; — Filsons and Hutchins (see map) make the 
one referred to by them terminate below the Scioto. — One may have been a branch used 
by the Muskingum and Hocking tribes, the other by those of the Scioto Valley. 



80 Terms agreed upon. 1752. 

whole, having any thing to do with the treat}' of 1744." "How- 
ever," said the savages, "as the French have already struck 
the Twigtwees, we shall be pleased to have your assistance 
and protection, and wish you would build a fort at once at 
the Forks of the Ohio."* But this permission was not what 
the Virginians wanted; so they took aside Montour, the inter- 
preter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour,f and 
a chief among the Six Nations, being three-fourths of Indian 
blood, and persuaded him, by valid arguments, (of the kind 
which an Indian mostly appreciates doubtless,) to use his in- 
fluence with his fellows. This he did; and, upon the 13th of 
June, they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lan- 
caster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement south- 
east of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should not be dis- 
turbed by them.J By such means was obtained the first treaty 
with the Indians in the Ohio valley. 

All this time the two powers beyond the Atlantic were in a 
professed state "of profound peace ;" and commissioners were 
at Paris trying to out-manoeuvre one another with regard to 
the disputed lands in America,^ though in the West all looked 
like war. We have seen how the English outwitted the 
Indians, and secured themselves, as they thought, by their 
politic conduct. But the French, in this as in all cases, proved 
that they knew best how to manage the natives ; and, though 
they had to contend with the old hatred felt toward them by 
the Six Nations, and though they by no means refrained from 
strong acts, marching through the midst of the Iroquois coun- 
try, attacking the Twigtwees, and seizing the English traders, 
nevertheless they did succeed, as the British never did, in at- 
taching the Indians to their cause. As ^n old chief of the 
Six Nations said at Easton, in 175S: "The Indians on the Ohio 
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French 
were coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not 

* Plain Facts, p. 42. 

,t For ft sketch of this woman, see Mauachtuetts Historical Collections, First Series, toI. 
vii. p. ISO, or Stone's Life of Brant, vol. i. p. .339. She had two stms, Andrew and Ucnry. 
The latter was a Captain among the Iroquois, the former a common interpreter, appa- 
rently. Andrew was taken by the French in 1749. Which of them was at Logstown we 
are aot told; but, from his influence with the Indians, it was probably Ilenry. 

X Plain Facta, pp. 38-44. The Virginia commissioners were men of high character, but 
trcatad with the Indians according to the ideas of their day. 

§See SmoUet ; George IT., chap. viii. and is. 



1753. Preparations for Hostilities. 81 

get them. The French came, they treated us kindly, and 
gained our affections. The Governor of Virginia settled on 
our lands for his own benefit, and, when we wanted help, 
forsook us."* 

So stood matters at the close of 1752. The English had 
secured (as they thought) a title to the Indian lands southeast 
of the Ohio, and Gist was at work laying out a town and fort 
there on Chartier's Creek, about two miles below the Fork.f 
Eleven families also were crossing the mountains to settle at 
the point where Gist had fixed his own residence, west of 
Laurel Hill, and not far from the Youghiogany. Goods, too, 
had come from England for the Ohio Company, which, how- 
ever, they could not well, and dared not, carry beyond Will's 
Creek, the point where Cumberland now stands, whence they 
were taken by the traders and Indians ; and there was even 
some prospect of a road across the mountains to the Monon- 
gahela. 

On the other hand, the French were gathering cannon and 
stores upon Lake Erie, and, without treaties or deeds for land, 
were gaining the good will of even inimical tribes, and pre- 
paring, when all was ready, to strike the blow. Some of the 
savages, it is true, remonstrated. They said they did not un- 
derstand this dispute between the Europeans, as to which of 
them the western lands belonged, for they did not belong to 
either. But the French bullied when it served their turn, and 
flattered when it served their turn, and all the while went on 
with their preparations, which were in an advanced state 
early in 1753. J 

In May of that year, the governor of Pennsylvania informed 
the Assembly of the French movements, a knowledge of which 
was derived, in part at least, from Montour, who had been 
present at a conference between the French and Indians rela- 
tive to the invasion of the West.§ The Assembly, thereupon, 
voted six hundred pounds for distribution among the tribes, 
besides two hundred for the presents of condolence to the 
Twigtwees, already mentioned. This money was not sent, 

*Plain Facts, p. 55. — Pownall's Memoir on Service in North America. 

j Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. pp. 433, 4S2, and map, p. 38. 

X See in Washington's Journal, the speech of Half-king to the French commander and 
bis answer. — Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 484. 

I Sparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 219. 



82 Another Treaty. 1753. 

but Conrad Weiser was despatched in August to learn how- 
things stood among the Ohio savages.* Virginia was moving 
also. In June, or earlier, a commissioner was sent westward 
to meet the French, and ask how they dared to invade his 
Majesty's province. The messenger went to Logstown, but 
was afraid to go up the Allegheny, as instructed.! Trent was 
also sent off with guns, powder, shot and clothing for the 
friendly Indians ; and then it was, that he learned the fact 
already stated, as to the claim of the French, and their burial 
of medals in proof of it. While these measures were taken, 
another treaty with the wild men of the debatable land was 
also in contemplation ; and in September, 1753, William Fair- 
fax met their deputies at Winchester, Virginia, where he con- 
cluded a treaty, with the particulars of which we are unac- 
quainted, but on which, we are told, was an endorsement, 
stating that such was their feeling, that he had not dared to 
mention to them either the Lancaster or the Los;stoicn treaty ;J a 
most sad comment upon the modes taken to obtain those 
grants. In the month following, however, a more satisfactory 
interview took place at Carlisle, between the representatives 
of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawnees, Twigtwees and Wyan- 
dots, and the commissioners of Pennsylvania, Richard Peters, 
Isaac Norris, and Benjamin Franklin. At this meeting the 
attack on the Twigtwees was talked over, the plans of the 
French discussed, and a treaty concluded. The Indians had 
sent three messages to the French, warning them away; the 
reply was, that they were coming to build forts af'Wenengo," 
(Venango,) 'Mohongiala forks, (Pittsburgh,) Logstown and 
Beaver Creek. The red men complained of the traders as 
too scattered, and killing them with rum; they wished only 
three trading stations, viz : mouth of "Mohongely," (Pitts- 
burgh,) Logstown, and mouth of Conawa.'"§ 

Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the 
Ohio, either as to the force, position, or purposes of the 
French, Robert Dinwiddle, then Governor of Virginia, deter- 
mined to send to them another messenger, and selected a 
young surveyor, who, at the age of nineteen, had received 
the rank of major, and whose previous life had inured him to 

•Sparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 230. 

tSparkg' Washington, vol. ii. p. 430. 

X Plain FaclK, p. 44. 

gMinutes of Treaty at Carlisle in October, 1753, pp. 5 to 8. 



1753. Washington. 83 

hardship and woodland ways ; while his courage, cool judg- 
ment, and firm will, all fitted him for such a mission. This 
young man, as all know, was George Washington, who was 
twenty-one years and eight months old, at the time of the 
appointment.* With Gist as his guide, Washington left 
Will's Creek, where Cumberland now is, on the 15th of Novem- 
ber, and, on the 22d, reached the Monongahela, about ten 
miles above the Fork. Thence he went to Logstown, where 
he had long conferences with the chiefs of the Six Nations 
living in that neighborhood. Here he learned the position of 
the French upon the Riviere aux Bceufs, and the condition of 
their forts. He heard, also, that they had determined not to 
come down the river till the following spring, but had warned 
all the Indians, that, if they did not keep still, the whole 
French force would be turned upon them ; and that, if they 
and the English were equally strong, they would divide the 
land between them, and cut off all the natives. These threats, 
and the mingled kindness and severity of the French, had 
produced the desired effect. Shingiss, king of the Delawares. 
feared to meet Washington, and the Shannoah (Shawnee) 
chiefs would not come either.f 

The truth was, these Indians were in a very awkward 
position. They could not resist the Europeans, and knew 
not which to side with ; so that a nun-committal policy 
was much the safest, and they were wise not to return by 
Washington (as he desired they should) the wampum they 
received from the French, as that would be equivalent to- 
breaking with them. 

Finding that nothing could be done with these people, 
Washington left Logstown on the 30th of November, and, 
traveling amid cold and rain, reached Venango,^ an old In- 
dian town at the mouth of French Creek, on the 4th of 
the next month. Here he found the French ; and through 
the rum, the flattery, and the persuasions of his enemies, 
he very nearly lost all his Indians, even his old friend, the 

* Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. pp. 42S — 147. 

■f" Shingiss, or Shingask, was the great Delaware Warrior of that day, and did the 
British much mischief. — See Hackewelder's Narrativo, p. 64. 

X A corruption of Innungah ; (Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, 636, note.) 
The French fort there was called Fort Machault. Memoires sur la Dcrniere Guerre, 
iii. ISl.) 



84 Washimton^s Return* 1754. 



"o 



Half-king. Patience and good faith conquered, however, 
and, after another effort through mires and creeks, snow, rain 
and cold, upon the 11th he reached the head of French Creek. 
Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, took his ob- 
servations, received his answer, and upon the 16th set out 
upon his return journey, having had to combat every art 
and trick "which the most faithful brain could suggest," in 
order to get his Indians away with him. Flattery, liquor, 
guns, and provisions were showered upon the Half-king and 
his comrades, while Washington himself received bows, 
smirks, and compliments, with a plentiful store of creature- 
comforts also. 

From Venango, Washington and Gist went on foot, leaving 
their Indian friends to the tender mercies of the French. Of 
their hardships and dangers on this journey out and back, we 
need only say, that three out of five men who went with 
them Avere too badly frost-bitten to continue the journey.* — 
In spite of all, however, they reached Will's Creek, on the 
6th of January, well and sound. f During the absence of the 
young messenger, steps had been taken to fortify and settle 
the point formed by the junction of the Monongahela and 
Allegheny ; and while upon his return, he met "seventeen 
horses, loaded with materials and stores for a fort at the Fork 
of the Ohio," and, soon after, "some families going out to set- 
tle." These steps were taken by the Ohio Company; but, as 
soon as Washington returned with the letter of St. Pierre, 
the commander on French Creek, and it was perfectly clear 
that neither he nor his superiors meant to yield the West 
without a struggle. Governor Dinwiddle wrote to the Board 
of Trade, stating that the French were building another fort 
at Venango, and that in March twelve or fifteen hundred 
rnen would be ready to descend the river with their Indian 
allies, for which purpose three hundred canoes had been col- 
lected ; and that Logstown was then to be made head-quar- 
ters, while forts were built in various other positions, and the 
whole countr}' occupied. He also sent expresses to the Gov- 
ernors of Pennsylvania and New York, calling upon them for 
assistance ; and with the advice of his council, proceeded to 

* Sparks' Washington, ii. 55. 

t Grist's Journal of this Expedition maj be found in the Massachusetts Ilistoncal Col- 
lections, third serie?, vol. t. (1S36,) 101 to 103. 



1754. Fort at Venango Finished. 85 

enlist two companies, one of which was to be raised by 
Washington, the other by Trent, who was a frontier man. 
This last was to be raised upon the frontiers; and to proceed 
at once to the Fork of the Ohio, there to complete in the best 
manner, and as soon as possible, the fort begun by the Ohio 
Company ; and in case of attack, or any attempt to resist the 
settlements, or obstruct the works, those resisting were to be 
taJten, and if need were, to be killed.* 

While Virginia was taking these strong measures, which 
were fully authorized by the letter of the Earl of Holdernesse, 
Secretary of State ,f written in the previous August, and which 
directed the Governors of the various provinces, after repre- 
senting to those who were invading his Majesty's dominions 
the injustice of the act, to call out the armed force of the 
province, and repel force by force; while Virginia was thus 
acting, Pennsylvania was discussing the question, whether the 
French were really invading his Majesty's dominions, — the 
Governor being on one side, and the Assembly on the other,J 
and New York was preparing to hold a conference with the 
Six Nations, in obedience to orders from the Board of Trade, 
written in September, 1753.§ These orders had been sent 
out in consequence of the report in England, that the natives 
would side with the French, because dissatisfied with the oc- 
cupancy of their lands by the English ; and simultaneous orders 
were sent to the other provinces, directing the Governors to 
recommend their Assemblies to send commissioners to Albany 
to attend this grand treaty, which M^as to heal all wounds. 
New York, however, was more generous w^hen called on by 
Virginia, than her neighbor on the south, and voted, for the 
assistance of the resisting colony, five thousand pounds cur- 
rency.ll 

It was now April, 1754. The fort at Venango was finished, 
and all along the line of French Creek troops were gathering; 
and the wilderness echoed the strange sounds of an European 
camp, — the watch-word, the command, the clang of muskets, 
the uproar of soldiers, the cry of the sutler ; and with these 

^Sparks' Waihington, Yol. ii. pp. 1, 431, 446. — Sparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 254. 
fSparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 251, where the letter is given. 
JSparke' Franklin, vol. iii. pp. 254, 263. 
gPlain Facts, pp. 45, 46. Sparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 253. 
iJMassachusetta Historical Collections, first seric!, vol. vii. p. 73. 



86 Volunteers called out. 1754. 

were mingled the shrieks of drunken Indians, won over from 
their old friendship by rum and soft words. Scouts were 
abroad, and little groups formed about the tents or huts of 
the officers, to learn the movements of the British. Canoes 
were gathering, and cannon were painfully hauled here 
and there. All was movement and activity among the old 
forests, and on hill-sides, covered already with young wild 
flowers, from Lake Erie to the Allegheny. In Philadelphia, 
meanwhile. Governor Hamilton, in no amiable mood, had 
summoned the Assembly, and asked them if they meant to 
help the King in the defence of his dominions ; and had de- 
sired them, above all things, to do whatever they meant to do, 
quickly. The Assembly debated, and resolved to aid the King 
with a little money, and then debated again and voted not to 
aid him with any money at all, for some would not give less 
than ten thousand pounds, and others would not give more 
than five thousand pounds; and so, nothing being practicable, 
they adjourned upon the 10th of April until the 13th of May.* 
In New York, a little, and only a little better spirit, was at 
work; nor was this strange, as her direct interest was much 
less than that of Pennsylvania. Five thousand pounds indeed 
was, as wo have said, voted to Virginia ; but the Assembly 
questioned the invasion of his Majesty's dominions by the 
French, and it was not till June that the money voted was 
sent for ward. t 

The Old Dominion, however, was all alive. As, under the 
provincial law, the militia could not be callei^ forth to march 
more than five miles beyond the bounds of the colony, and as 
it was doubtful if the French were in Virginia, it was deter- 
mined to rely upon volunteers. Ten thousand pounds had 
been voted by the Assembly; so the two companies were now 
increased to six, and Washington was raised to the rank of 
lieutenant colonel, and made second in command under 
Joshua Fry. Ten cannon, lately from England, were for- 
warded from Alexandria; wagons were got ready to carry 
westward provisions and stores through the heavy spring 
roads; and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlist- 
ing under the Governor's proclamation, which promised to 

* Sparks' Franklin, vol. iii. pp. 264, 265. 

IMassachusctts IliBtoricol C!ollections, first scries, vol. vii. pp. 72, 73, and note. 



1754. The War Begun. 87 

those that should serve in that war, two hundred thousand 
acres of land on the Ohio, or, already enlisted, were gathering 
into grave knots, or marching forward to the field of action, 
or helping on the thirty cannon and eighty barrels of gun- 
powder, which the King had sent out for the western forts. 
Along the Potomac they were gathering, as far as to Will's 
Creek ; and far beyond Will's Creek, whither Trent had come 
for assistance, his little band of forty-one men was working 
away, in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the Fork of 
the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep inter- 
est. The first birds of spring filled the forest with their songs ; 
the redbud was here and there putting forth its flowers on the 
steep Allegheny hill-sides, and the swift river below swept by, 
swollen by the melting snows and April showers ; a few In- 
dian scouts were seen but no enemy seemed near at hand ; 
and all were so quiet, that Frazier, an old Indian trader, who 
had been left by Trent in command of the new fort, ventured 
to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten miles up the 
Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder- 
ness, keen eyes had seen the low entrenchment that was 
rising at the Fork, and swift feet had borne the news of it up 
the valley; and, upon the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who 
then had charge of it, saw upon the Allegheny a sight that 
made his heart sink ; sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes, 
filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and stores. The 
fort was called on to surrender ; by the advice of the Half- 
king, Ward tried to evade the act, but it would not do ; Con- 
trecGBur, with a thousand men about him, said "Evacuate," 
and the Ensign dared not refuse. That evening he supped 
with his captor, and the next day was bowed off' by the 
Frenchman, and, with his men and tools, marched up the 
Monongahela. From that day began the war.* 

* Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. The number of French troops was probably over-stated, 
but to the captives there seemed a round thousand. Burk, in his History of Virginia, 
speaks of the taking of Logstown by the French ; but Logstown was never a post of the 
Ohio Company as he represents it, as is plain from all contemporary letters and accounts. 
Burk's ignorance of Western matters is clear in this, that he says the French dropped 
down from Fort Du Quesne to Prcsqu'Ilo and Venango; they, or a part of them, did drop 
down the Ohio, but surely not to posts, one of which was on Lake Erie, and the other far 
up the Allegheny! In a letter from Captain Stobo, written in July, 1754, at Fort Du 
Quesne, where he was then confined as hostage under the capitulation of Great Meadows, 
he says there were but two hundred men in and about the Fort at that time. — (American 
Pioneer, i. 236.— For plan of Forts Du Quesne and Pitt, see article in Pioneer; also, Day's 
Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, 77.) 



CHAPTER 111. 

WAR OF 1754 TO 1703. 

Fort Necessity — Proposed compromise by the French — March of Braddock — Defeat of 

Braddock Expedition to the Indian Towns on the Ohio— Fort Du Quesno taken by the 

British Journey of Post — Treaty at Easton — Settlements in the West — Treaty of Peace 

at Paris. 

Washington was at Will's Creek, (Cumberland,) when the 
news of the surrender of the Forks reached him. He was.on 
his way across the mountains, preparing roads for the King's 
cannon, and aiming for the mouth of Red Stone Creek, 
(Brownsville,) where a store-house had been already built by 
the Ohio Company ; by the 9th of May, he had reached Lit- 
tle Meadows, on the head waters of a branch of the Youghio- 
gheny, toiling slowly, painfully forward, four, three, sometimes 
only two miles a day ! All the while from traders and others 
he heard of forces coming up the Ohio to reinforce the French 
at the Fork, and of spies out examining the valley of the 
jNIonongahela, llattcring and bribing the Indians. On the 
27th of May he was at Great Meadows, west of the Youghi- 
o"-heny, near the Fort of Laurel Hill, close by the spot now 
known as Braddock's Grave. He had heard of a body of 
French somewhere in the neighborhood, and on the 27th, his 
former fuide. Gist, came from his residence beyond Laurel 
Hill near the head of Red Stone Creek, and gave information 
of a body of French, who had been at his plantation the day 
before. That evening from his old friend the Half-king, he 
heard again of enemies in the vicinity. Fearing a surprise, 
Washington at once started, and early the next morning at- 
tacked the party referred to by the Chief of the Iroquois. In 
the contest ten of the French were killed, including M. de 
Jumonville, their commander; of the Americans but one was 
lost. This skirmish France saw fit to regard as the commence- 
ment of the war, and inconsequence of a report made by M. de 
ContreccDur, to the Marquis Du Quesne, founded upon the tales 
told by certain of Jumonvillc's men, who had run away at the 
first onset, it has been usual with French writers to represent 
the attack by Washington as unauthorized, and the party as- 



1754. Cvpitulation of Fort Necessfity. 89 

sailed by him as a party sent with peaceable intentions; and 
this impression was confirmed by the term "assassination of M. 
de Jumonville," used in the capitulation of Great Meadows in 
the following July ; — this having been accepted by Washing- 
ton {to whom the term icas falsely translated,) it was naturally 
regarded as an acknowledgment by him of the improper 
character of the attack of May 28th. Mr, Sparks, in his ap- 
pendix to Washington's papers, vol. ii. pp. 447, 459, has dis- 
cussed this matter at length, and fully answered the aspersions 
of the European writers ; to his work we refer our readers. 

From the last of May until the 1st of July, preparations 
were made to meet the French who were understood to be 
gathering their forces in the West. On the 28th of June, 
Washington was at Gist's house, and new reports coming in 
that the enemy was approaching in force, a council of war 
was held, and it was thought best, in consequence of the 
scarcity of provisions, to retreat to Great Meadows, and even 
farther if possible. When, however, the retiring body of 
Provincials reached that post, it was deemed impossible to go 
farther in the exhausted state of the troops, who had been 
eight days without bread. Measures were therefore taken to 
strengthen the fort, which, from the circumstances, was named 
Fort Necessity. On the 1st of July, the Americans reached 
their position ; on the 3d, alarm was given of an approaching 
enemy; at eleven o'clock, A. M., nine hundred in number, 
they commenced the attack in the midst of a hard rain ; and 
from that time until eight in the evening, the assailants ceased 
not to pour their fire upon the little fortress. About eight 
the French requested some officer to be sent to treat with 
them ; Captain Vanbraam, the only person who pretended to 
understand the language of the enemy, was ordered to go to 
the camp of the attacking party, whence he returned bringing 
terms of capitulation, which, by a flickering candle, in the 
dripping quarters of his commander, he translated to Wash- 
ington, and as it proved, from intention or ignorance, mis- 
translated. By this capitulation, the garrison of Fort Neces- 
sity were to have leave to retire with everything but their 
artillery; the prisoners taken May 28th were to be returned; 
and the party yielding were to labor on no works west of the 
mountains for one year; for the observance of these condi- 
tions Captain Vanbraam, the negotiator, and Captain Stobo, 
6 



90 Resignation of Washington. 1754. 

were to be retained by the French as sureties.* The above 
provisions having been agreed to, Washington and his men, 
hard pressed by famine, hastened to the nearest depot which 
was at Will's Creek. At this point, immediately afterwards, 
Fort Cumberland was erected under the charge of Colonel 
Innes, of North Carolina, who, since the death of Colonel 
Fry, had been Commander-in-Chief. At that time there were 
in service, 1st, the Virginia militia ; 2nd, the Independent Com- 
panies of Virginia, South Carolina, and New York, all of whom 
were paid by the King ; 3d, troops raised in North Carolina 
and paid by the Colony; and 4th, recruits from Maryland; of 
these the Virginia and South Carolina troops alone had been 
beyond the mountains. 

From August to October little appears to have been done, 
but in the latter month the Governor of Virginia, (Dinwiddle,) 
so changed the military organization of the Colony, as to leave 
no one in the army with a rank above that of Captain ; this 
was done in order to avoid all contests as to precedence 
among the American officers, it being clear that troops from 
various Provinces would have to be called into the field, and 
that the different commissions from the Crown, and the Colo- 
nies, would give large openings fur rivalry and conflict ; but 
among the results of the measure was the resignation of 
Washington, who for a time retired to Mount Vernon. y 

It was now the fall of 1754. In Pennsylvania, Morris, who 
had succeeded Hamilton, was busily occupied with making 
speeches to the Assembly and listening to their stubborn re- 
plies; J, while in the north the Kennebec was fortified, and a 
plan talked over for attacking Crown Point on L£Lke Cham- 
plain the next spring; § and in the south things went on much 
as if tliere were no war coming. All the colonics united in 
one thing, however, in calling loudly on the mother country 
for help. During this same autumn the pleasant Frenchmen 
were securing the West, step by step; settling the valley of 
the Wabash ; gallanting with the Dela wares, and coquetting 
with the Iroquois, who still balanced between them and the 

*Tbi5 fart would scem to show that Vanbraam's mistranslation must have been from 
ignoranoo or accident. 
fSparks' Washington, ii. 64, C7, and generally, the whole volume, as to this war. 

JSparks' Franklin, vol. iii. p. 2S2. 
gMossauhusottij llistorical Collections, vol. vii. p. 8S. 



1755. Braddoc/c in America. ^1 •'' 

English. The forest of the Ohio shed their leaves, and the prai- 
ries filled the sky with the smoke of their burning ; arid along 
the great rivers, and on the lakes, and amid the pathless 
woods of the West, no European was seen, whose tongue spoke 
other language than that of France. So closed 1754. 

The next year opened with professions, on both sides, of the 
most peaceful intentions, and preparations on both sides to 
push the war vigorously. France, in January, proposed to re- 
store every thing to the state it was in before the last war, 
and to refer all claims to commissioners at Paris ; to which 
Britain, on the 22nd, replied that, the west of North America 
must be left as it was at the treaty of Utrecht. On the 6th of 
February, France made answer, that the old Enghsh claims in 
America were untenable ; and oftered a new ground of compro- 
mise, namely, that the English should retire east of the Alle- 
ghenies, and the French west of the Ohio. This offer was long 
considered, and at length ^oas agreed to by Eiigland on the 7th 
of MnYch, jwovided the French would destroy all their forts on 
the Ohio and its branches ; to which, after twenty days had 
passed, France said, "No."* While all this negotiation was 
going on, other things also had been in motion. General 
Braddock, with his gallant troops, had crossed the Atlantic, 
and, upon the 20th of February, had landed in Virginia, com- 
mander-in-chief of all the land forces in America; and in the 
north all this while there was whispering of, and enlisting for, 
the proposed attack on Crown Point ; and even Niagara, far 
off by the falls, was to be taken in case nothing prevented. Ini 
France, too, other work had been done than negotiation ; for 
at Brest and Rochelle ships were fitting out, and troops gath- 
ering, and stores crowding in. Even old England herself had 
not been all asleep, and Boscawen had been busy at Plymouth, 
hurrying on the slow workmen, and gathering the unready sai- 
lors.f In March the two European neighbors were smiling 
and doing their best to quiet all troubles ; in April they still 
smiled, hut the fleets of both were crowding sail across the At- 
lantic and, in Alexandria, Braddock, Shirley, and their fellow- 
officers were taking counsel as to the summer's campaign. 

In America four points were to be attacked ; Fort Du 

■^■Plain Facts, pp. 51, 52. — Secret Journals, vol. iv. p. 74. 

tSparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 68. — Masj-acliusetts Historical Collections, vol. vii. p. 89. 
— Smollett. George II, c'lapter s. 



92 Difficulties of Braddock. 1755. 

Quesne, Crown Point, Niagara, and the French posts in Nova 
Scotia. On the 20th of April, Braddock left Alexandria to 
march upon Du Quesne, whither he was expressly ordered, 
though the officers in America looked upon it as a mistaken 
movement, as they thought New York should be the main 
point for regular operations. The expedition for Xova Scotia, 
consisting of three thousand Massachusetts men, left Boston 
on the 20th of May ; while the troops which General Shirley 
was to lead against Niagara, and the provincials which Will- 
iam Johnson was to head in the attack upon Crown Point, 
slowly collected at Albany. 

May and June passed away, and mid summer drew nigh. 
The fearful and desponding colonists waited anxiously for 
news; and, when the news came that Nova vScotia had been 
conquered, and that Boscawen had taken two of the French 
men of war, and lay before Louisburg, hope and joy spread 
everywhere. July passed aw-ay, too, and men heard how t>lowly 
and painfully Braddock made progress through the wilderness, 
how his contractors deceived him, and the colonies gave little 
help, and neither horses nor w-agons could be had, and only 
one, Benjamin Franklin, sent any aid ;*■ and then reports came 
that he had been forced to leave many of his troops, and much 
of his baggage and artillery, behind him ; and then, about the 
middle of the month, through Virginia there went a whisper, 
that the great general had been defeated and wholly cut off; 
and, as man after man rode down the Potomac confirming it, 
the planters hastily mounted, and were off to consult with 
their neighbors; the country turned out; companies were 
formed to march to the frontiers; sermons were preached, 
and every heart and mouth was full. In Pennsylvania the 
Assembly were called together to hear the "shocking news;" 
and in New York it struck terror into those who were there 
gathered to attack the northern posts. Soldiers deserted ; the 
batteaux men dispersed; and when at length Shirley, since 
Braddock's death the commander-in-chief, managed with infi- 
nite labor to reach Oswego on Lake Ontario, it was too late 
and stormy, and his force too feebU', to allow him to more tlian 
garrison that point, and march back to Alhany again-f Johii- 

•Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 77, Ac— Sparks' Franklin, vol. vii. p. 94, ic. 

+For ft full account of Shirley's Expedition, see the paper in Jlaa-achusotts Iliytorical 
Collections, vol. vii. 



1755. Services of Franklin. 93 

son did better ; for he met and defeated Baron Dieskau upon 
the banks of Lake George, though Crown Point was not 
taken, nor even attacked. 

But we must turn back for a moment to describe particu- 
larly the events of Braddock's famous defeat, connected as it 
is with the history of the West ; and we cannot do it more 
perfectly than in the words of Mr. Sparks in his appendix to 
the second volume of the writings of Washington. 

The defeat of General Braddock, on the banks of the Monon- 
gahela, is one of the most remarkable events in American 
histor}'. Great preparations had been made for tho expedi- 
tion, under that experienced officer, and there was the most 
sanguine anticipation, both in England and America, of its 
entire success. Such was the confidence in the prowess of 
Braddock's army, according to Dr. Franklin, that, while he was 
on his march to Fort Du Quesne, a subscription paper was 
handed about in Philadelphia, to raise money to celebrate his 
victory by bonfires and illuminations, as soon as the intelli- 
gence should arrive. 

General Braddock landed in Virginia on the 20th of Feb- 
ruary, 1755, with two regiments of the British army from 
Ireland, the forty-fourth and forty-eighth, each consisting of 
five hundred men, one of them commanded by Sir Peter 
Halket, and the other by Colonel Dunbar. To these were 
joined a suitable train of artillery, with military supplies 
and provisions. The General's first head-quarters were at 
Alexandria, and the troops were .stationed in that place 
and its vicinity, till they marched for Will's Creek, where they 
arrived about the middle of May. It took four weeks to 
efl'ect that march. In letters written at Will's Creek, General 
Braddock, with much severity of censure, complained of the 
lukewarmness of the colonial governments and tardiness of 
the people, in facilitating his enterprise, the dishonesty of 
agents and the faithlessness of contractors. The forces which 
he brought together at Will's Creek, however, amounted to 
somewhat more than two thousand efiective men, of whom 
about one thousand belonged to the royal regiments, and the 
remainder were furnished by the colonies. In this number 
were embraced the fragments of two independent companies 
from New York, one of which was commanded by Captain 
Gates, afterwards a Major-General in the Revolutionary war. 
Thirty sailors had also been granted for the expedition by 
Admiral Keppel, who commanded the squadron that brought 
over the two regiments. 

At this post the army was detained three weeks, nor could 
it then have moved, had it not been for the energetic personal 
services of Franklin, among the Pennslyvania farmers, in pro- 



94 Braddock's Defeat. 1755. 

curing horses and wagons to transport the artillery, provisions 
and baggage. 

The details of the march Mere well described in Colonel 
Washington's letters. The army was separated into two 
divisions. The advanced division, under General Braddock, 
consisted of twelve hundred men, besides officers. The other, 
under Colonel Dunbar, was left in the rear, to proceed by 
slower marches. On the 8th of July, the General arrived 
with his division, all in excellent health and spirits, at the 
junction of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers. At 
this place Colonel Washington joined the advance division, 
being but partially recovered from a severe attack of fever, 
which had been the cause of his remaining behind. The 
officers and soldiers were now in the highest spirits, and firm 
in the conviction, that they should within a few hours, vic- 
toriously enter the walls of Fort Du Quesne. 

The steep and rugged grounds on the north side of the 
Monongahela prevented the army from marching in that di- 
rection, and it was necessary in approaching the Fort, now 
about fifteen miles distant, to ford the river twice, and march 
part of the way on the south side. Early on the morning of 
the 9th, all things were in readiness, and the whole train pass- 
ed through the river a little below the mouth of the Youghio- 
gheny, and proceeded in perfect order along the southern mar- 
gin of the INIonongahcla. 

Washington was often heard to say during his lifetime, that 
the most beautiful spectacle that he ever beheld was the dis- 
play of the British troops on this eventful morning. Every man 
was neatly dressed in full uniform, the soldiers were arranged 
in columns and marched in exact order, the sun gleamed from 
their burnished arms, the river flowed tranquilly on their 
right, and the deep forest overshadowed them with solemn 
grandeur on their left. Officers and men were equally in- 
spired with cheering hopes and confident anticipations. 

In this manner they marched forward till about noon, when 
they arrived at the second crossing place, ten miles from Fort 
Du Quesne. They halted but a little time, and then began 
to ford the river and regain its northern bank. As soon as 
they had crossed, they came upon a level plain, elevated but 
a few leet above the surface of the rivei-, and extending 
northward nearly half a mile from its margin. Then com- 
menced a gradual ascent at an angle of about three degrees, 
which terminated in hills of a considerable height at no great 
distance beyond. The road from the fording place to Fort Du 
Quesne, led across the })liiin and up this ascent, and thence 
proceeded through an uneven country, at that time covered 
with woods. 

By the order of march, a body of three hundred men, under 
Colonel Gage, afterwards General Gage, of Boston memory, 



1755. Braddock's Defeat. 95 

made the advanced party, which was immediately followed 
by another of two hundred. Next came the General with 
the columns of artillery, the main body of the army, and the 
baggag-e. At one o'clock the whole had passed the river, and 
almost at this moment a sharp firing was heard upon the ad- 
vance parties, who were now ascending the hill, and had got 
forward about a hundred yards from the termination of the 
plain. A heavy discharge of musketry was poured in upon 
their front, which was the first intelligence they had of the 
proximity of an enemy, and this was suddenly followed by 
another on their right flank. They were filled with great con- 
sternation, as no enemy was in sight, and the firing seemed to 
proceed from an invisible foe. They fired in their turn, how- 
ever, but quite at random, and obviously without effect, as 
the enemy kept up a discharge in quick, continued succession. 

The General advanced speedily to the relief of these de- 
tachments; but before he could reach the spot which they oc- 
cupied, they gave way and fell back upon the artillery and 
the other columns of the army, causing extreme confusion, 
and striking the whole mass with such a panic, that no order 
could afterwards be restored. The General and the officers 
behaved with the utmost courage, and used every efl^ort to 
rally the men, and bring them to order, but all in vain. In 
this state they continued nearly three hours, huddling together 
in confused bodies, firing irregularly, shooting down their own 
officers and men, and doing no perceptible harm to the enemy. 
The Virginia provincials were the only troops who seemed to 
retain their senses, and they behaved with a bravery and reso- 
lution worthy of a better fate. They adopted the Indian 
mode, and fought each man for himself behind a tree. This 
was prohibited by the General, who endeavored to form his 
men into platoons and columns, as if they had been manoeu- 
vring on the plains of Flanders. Meantime the French and 
Indians, concealed in the ravines and behind trees, kept up a 
deadly and unceasing discharge of musketry, singling out 
their objects, taking deliberate aim, and producing a carnage 
almost unparalleled in the annals of modern warfare. More 
than half of the whole army, which had crossed the river in so 
proud an array, only three hours before, were killed or wound- 
ed ; the General himself had received a mortal wound, and 
many of his best officers had fallen by his side. 

In describing the action a few days afterwards, Colonel 
Orme wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania : "The men 
were so extremely deaf to the exhortations of the General and 
the officers, that they fired away in the most irregular manner 
all their ammunition, and then ran off", leaving to the enemy 
the artillery, ammunition, provisions and baggage ; nor could 
they be persuaded to stop till they had got as far as Gist's plan- 
tation, nor there only in part, many of them proceeding as far 



96 B ruddock's Defeat. 1755. 

as Colonel Dunbar's party, Avho lay six miles on this side. The 
officers were absolutely sacrificed by their good behavior, ad- 
vancing sometimes in bodies, sometimes separately, hoping 
by such example to engage the soldiers to follow them, but to 
no purpose. The General had five horses shot under him, 
and at last received a wound through his right arm into his 
lungs, of which he died the l3th instant. Secretary Shirley 
was shot through the head ; Captain JMorris, wounded, Colonel 
Washington had tv»o horses shot under him, and his clothes 
shot through in several places, behaving the whole time with 
the greatest courage and resolution. Sir Peter Ilalket was 
killed upon the spot. Colonel Burton and Sir John St. Clair 
were wounded.'' In addition to these, the other field officers 
wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Gage, (afterwards so well 
known as the commander of the British forces in Boston, at 
the beginning of the Revolution,) Culonel Orme, Major Sparks, 
and Brigade Major Halket. Ten Captains were killed, and 
twenty-two wounded ; the whole number of officers in the 
engagement was eighty-six, of whom twenty-six were killed, 
and thirty-seven wounded. The killed and wounded of the 
privates amounted to seven hundred and fourteen. Of these 
at least one-half were supposed to be killed. Their bodies 
left on the field of action were stripped and scalped by the 
Indians. All the artillery, amnmuition, provisions, and bag- 
gage, every thing in the train of the army, fell into the ene- 
my's hands, and were given up to be pillaged by the savages. 
General Braddock's papers wtre also taken, among which 
were his instructions and correspondence with the ministry 
after his arrival in Virginia. The same fate befell the j)apej'S 
of Colonel Washington, including a private journal and his 
ofiicial correspondence, during his campaign of the preceding 
year. 

M. de Contreccpur, the commandant of Fort Du Quesne, 
received early intelligence of the arrival of General Braddock 
and the British regiments in A'irginia. After his removal from 
Will's Creek, French and Indian scouts Mere constantly abroad, 
who watched his motions, repoited the progress of his march, 
and tlie route he was pursuing. His army was represented to 
consist of three thousand men. M. de Contrecoeur was hesi- 
tating what measures to take, believing his small force wholly 
inadequate to encounter so formidable an enemy, when jM. de 
Beaujeu, a Captain in the French service, proposed to head a 
detachment of French and Indians, and meet the enemy in 
their march. The consent of the Indians was first obtained. 
A large body of them was then encamj>ed in the vicinity of 
the Fort, and M. de Beaujeu opened to them his plan, and re- 
quested their aid. This they at first declined, giving as a 
reason the superior force of the enemy, and the impossibility 
of success. But at the pressing solicitation of JM. de Beaujeu, 



1755. Braddock's Defeat. 97 

they agreed to hold a council on the subject, and talk with him 
again the next morning. They still adhered to their first de- 
cision, and M'hen M. de Bcaujeu went out among them to in- 
quire the result of their deliberations, they told him a second 
time they could not go. This was a severe disappointment 
to M. de Bcaujeu, who had set his heart upon the enterprise. 
and was resolved to prosecute it. Being a man of great good 
nature, affability, and ardor, and much beloved by the savages, 
he said to them, "I am determined to go out and meet the 
enemy. What ! will you suffer your father to go out alone ? 
I am sure we shall conquer." With this spirited harangue, 
delivered in a manner that pleased the Indians, and won upon 
their confidence, he subdued their unwillingness, and they 
agreed to accompany him. 

It was now the 7th of July, and news came that the English 
were within six leagues of the Fort. This day and the next 
were spent in making preparations, and reconnoitering the 
ground for attack. Two other Captains, Dumas and Liquery 
were joined with M. deBeaujeu, and also four Lieutenants, six 
Ensigns and two Cadets. On the morning of the 9th they 
were all in readiness, and began their march at an early 
hour. It seems to have been their first intention to make a 
stand at the ford, and annoy the English while crossing the 
river, and then retreat to the ambuscade on the side of 
the hill where the contest actually commenced. The trees 
on the bank of the river afforded a good opportunity to 
eftect this measure, in the Indian mode of warfare, since the 
artillery could be of little avail against an enemy, where every 
man was protected by a tree, and at the same time the En- 
glish would be exposed to a point blank musket shot in fording 
the river. As it happened, however, M. de Beaujeu and his 
party did not arrive in time to execute this part of the plan. 

The English were preparing to cross the river, when the 
French and Indians reached the defiles on the rising ground, 
where they posted themselves, and waited until Braddock's 
advanced columns came up. This was the signal for the at- 
tack, which was made at first in front, and repelled by so heavy 
a discharge from the British, that the Indians believed it pro- 
ceeded from artillery, and showed symptoms of wavering and 
retreat. At this moment M. de Beaujeu was killed, and the 
command devolving on M. Dumas, he showed great presence 
of mind in rallying the Indians, and ordered his oiFicers to 
lead them to the wings and attack the enemy in the flank, 
while he with the French troops would m.aintain the position 
in front. This order was promptly obeyed, and the attack be- 
came general. The action was warm and severely contested 
for a short time; but the English fought in the European method, 
firing at random, which had little efi'ect in the woods, while 
the Indians fired from concealed places, took aim, and almost 



98 Braddock's Defeat. 1755. 

every shot brought down a man. The English columns soon 
got into confusion ; the yell of the savages with which the 
wood:;; resounded, struck terror into the hearts of the soldiers, 
till at length they took to flight, and resisted all the endeavors 
of their ollicers to restore any degree of order in their escape. 
The route was complete, and the fi(dd of battle was left cov- 
ered with the dead and wounded, and all the artillery, ammu- 
nition, provisions, and baggage of the English army. The 
Indians gave themselves up to pillage, which prevented them 
from pursuing the English in their flight. 

Such is the substance of the accounts written at the time 
by the French officers and sent home to their Government. 
In regard to the numbers engaged, there are some slight varia- 
tions in the three statements. The largest number reported 
is two hundred and fifty French and Canadians, and six hun- 
dred Indians. If we take a medium, it will make the whole 
number led out by M. de Beaujeu, at least eight hundred and 
fifty. \xi an imperfect return, three officers were stated to be 
killed, and four wounded ; about thirty soldiers and Indians 
killed, and as many wounded. "When these facts are taken 
into view, the result of the action will appear much less 
wonderful, than has generally been supposed. And this won- 
der will still be diminished, when another circumstance is 
recurred to, worthy of particular consideration, and that is, 
the shape of the ground upon which the battle was fought. 
This part of the description, so essential to the understanding 
of militar}' operations, and above all in the present instance, 
has never been touched upon, it is believed, by any writer. 
We have seen that Braddock's advanced columns, after cross- 
i ng the valley extending nearly half a mile from the margin 
of the river, began to move up a hill, so uniform in its ascent, 
that it was little else than an inclined plane of a somewhat 
crowning form. Down this inclined surface extended two 
ravines, beginning near together, at about one hundred and 
fifty yards from the bottom of the hill, and proceeding in dif- 
ferent dircctionfi till they terminated in the valley below. In 
these ravines the French and Indians were concealed and pro- 
tected. At this day they are from eight to ten feet deep, and 
sufficient in extent to contain at least ten thousand men. At 
the time of the battle, the ground was covered with trees and 
long grass, so that the ravines were entirely hidden from view, 
till they were approached within a few feet. Indeed, at the 
present day, although the place is cleared from trees, and con- 
verted into pasture, they arc perceptible only at a very short 
distance. By this knowledge of the local peculiarities of the 
battle ground, the mystery, that the British conceived them- 
selves to be contending with an invisible Ibe, is solved. Such 
was literally the fact. They were so paraded between the 
ravines, that their whole front and right flank were exposed 



1755. Braddocts Defeat. 99 

to the incessant fire of the enemy, who discharged their mus- 
kets over the edge of the ravines, concealed during the opera- 
tion b}^ the grass and bushes, and protected b}^ an invisible 
barrier below the surface of the earth. William Butler, a 
veteran soldier still living (1832,) who was in this action, and 
afterwards at the plains of Abraham, said to me, "We could 
only tell where the enemy were by the smoke of their mus- 
kets." A few scattering Indians were behind trees, and some 
were killed venturing out to take scalps, but much the larger 
portion fought wholly in the ravines. 

It is not probable, that either General Braddock, or any one 
of his officers suspected the actual situation of the enemy, 
during the whole bloody contest. It was a fault with the 
General, for which no apology can be oflered, that he did not 
keep scouts and guards in advance and on the wings of the 
army, who would have made all proper discoveries before the 
whole had been brought into a snare. This neglect was the 
primary cause of his defeat; which might have been avoided. 
Had he charged with the bayonet, the ravine would have 
been cleared instantly ; or had he brought his artillery to the 
points where the ravines terminated in the valley, and scoured 
them with grape-shot, the same consequence would have fol- 
lowed. 

But the total insubordination of his troops Vv'ould have 
prevented both these movements, even if he had become ac- 
quainted with the ground in the early part of the action. The 
disasters of this day, and the fate of the commander, brave 
and resolute as he undoubtedly was, are to be ascribed to his 
contempt of Indian warfare, his overweening confidence in 
the prowess of veteran troops, his obstinate self-complacency, 
his disregard of prudent counsel, and his negligence in leaving 
his army exposed to a surprise on their march, lie freely con- 
sulted Colonel Washington, whose experience and judgment, 
notwithstanding his youth, claimed the highest respect for his 
opinions ; but the General gave little heed to his advice. 
While on his march, George Croghan, the Indian interpreter, 
joined him with one hundred friendl}' Indians, who oti'ered 
their services. These were accepted in so cold a manner, and 
the Indians themselves treated with so much neglect, that 
they deserted him one after another. Washington pressed 
upon him the importance of these men, and the necessity of 
conciliating and retaining them, but without effect. 

[A report has prevailed in Western Pennsylvania, that 
Braddock was shot by a pi'ovincial soldier, whose brother had 
been sentenced and shot by a court-martial, and an old man 
died a few years since who made this claim.] 

When the battle was over, and the remnant of Biaddock's 
army had gained, in their flight, the opposite bank of the 
river, Colonel Washington was dispatched by the General to 



100 Testimony of Smith. 1756. 

meet Colonel Dunbar, and order forward wagons for the 
wounded with all possible speed. But it was not till the 
11th, after they had reached Gist's plantation with great dif- 
ficulty and much sullering from hunger, that any arrived. 
The General was first brought off in a tumbril ; he was next 
put on horse-back, but being unable to I'idc, was obliged to be 
carried by the soldiers. They all reached Dunbar's camp, to 
which the panic had already extended, and a day was passed 
there in great confusion. The artillery was destroyed, and 
the public stores and heavy baggage were burnt, by whose 
order was never known. They moved forward on the 13th, 
and that night General Braddock died, and was buried in the 
road, for the purpose of concealing his body from the Indians. 
The spot is still pointed out, within a few yards of the present 
national road, and about a mile Mxst of the site of Fort A^eces- 
sity at the great meadows. Captain Stewart, of the Virginia 
forces, had taken particular charge of him from the time he was 
wounded till his death. On the 17th, the sick and wounded 
arrived at Fort Cumberland, and were soon after joined by 
Colonel Dunbar with the remaining fragments of the army. 

The French sent out a party as far as Dunbar's camp, and 
destroyed every thing that was left. Colonel Washington 
being in very feeble health, proceeded in a few days to Mount 
Vernon. 

[Col. James Smith was a prisoner at Fort Du Quesne at the 
time of this celebrated battle, and gives in his "Narrative" a 
particular account of the return of the parties of the French 
and Indians. He saw them when the}' went out to the field 
and when they returned, and witnessed the horrid scene of 
burning their prisoners. The insertion cannot add to the 
testimony already adduced, nor cast any additional light on 
the disaster to the British and colonial troops.] 

Although the doings of 1755, recorded above, could not well 
be looked on as of a very amicable character, war was not 
declared by either France or England, until May the following 
year; and even then France was the last to proclaim the con- 
test which she had been so long carrying on, though more than 
three hundred of her merchant vessels had been taken by 
British privateers. The c;iuses of this proceeding are not 
very clear to us. France thought, beyond doubt, that George 
would fear to declare war, because Hanover was so exposed to 
attack ; but why the British movements, upon the sea par- 
ticularly, did not lead to the declaration on the part of France, 
is not easily suggested. Early in 1756, however, both king- 



1756. Expedition of Major Lewis. 101 

doms formed alliances in Europe; France with Austria, Rus- 
sia, and Sweden ; England with the Great Frederic. And then 
commenced forthwith the Seven Years' War, wherein most of 
Europe, North America, and the East and West Indies par- 
took and suffered. 

Into the details of that war we cannot enter; not even into 
those of the contest of North America. In Virginia many 
things worthy of notice took place, but most of them took 
place east of the mountains — among western events we find 
only the following : — Immediately after Braddock's defeat, the 
Indians began to push their excursions across the mountains, 
so that in April, 1756, Washington writes from Winchester : 
"The Blue Ridge is now our frontier, no men being left in this 
county (Frederick) except a few who keep close, with a num- 
ber of women and children, in forts." Under these, or similar 
circumstances, it was deemed advisable to send an expedition 
against the Indian towns upon the Ohio ; Major Lewis, in 
January 1756, was appointed to command the troops to be 
used in the proposed irruption, and the point aimed at was 
apparently the upper Shavvanese town,* situated on the Ohio 
three miles above the mouth of the Great Kanahwa.j The 
attempt proved a failure, in consequence, it is said, of the 
swollen state of the streams, and the treachery of the guides, 
and Major Lewis and his party suffered greatly. J Of this 
expedition, however, we have no details, unless it be, as we 
suspect, the same with the "Sandj^ Creek voyage," described 
by Withers, in his Border warfare, as occurring in 1757, during 
which year Washington's letters make no reference to any 
thing of the kind. Withers, moreover, says, the return of the 
party was owing to orders from Governor Fauquier; but Din- 
widdle did not leave until .January, 1758.§ ' 

Upon a larger scale it was proposed during 1756, to attack 
Crown Point, Niagara, and Fort du Quesne, but neither was 

* The lower Shawanese town was just below the mouth of the Scioto. See Croghan's 
Journal — Butler's Kentucky, second edition, 472. 

t Sparks' Wiishington, ii. 527. 

J Sparks' Washington, ii. 125, 135, 136. 

'j Sparks' Washington, ii. 270. Had the return been owing to the Governor's orders 
would Lieutenant M'Nutt, as Withers states, have presented his journal blaming Lewis 
for returning, to the very Governor whose commands he obeyed? Border Warfare 65. 

Mr. L. E. Draper wrote Mr. Perkins he had complete proof from the MS. journal of 
Col. William Treston of this ''Sandy Creek" expedition, and that it occuiTed in 17J!)., as 
wo have corrected the Text. — Ed. 



102 Fort DiL Qiicsnc Taken. 1758. 

attacked ; for Montcalm took the forts at Oswego, which he 
destroyed, to quiet the jealousy of the Iroquois, within whose 
territory they were built, and this stroke seemed to paralyze 
all arms. One bold blow was made by Armstrong at Kittan- 
ing, on the Allegheny, in September,* and the frontiers of 
Pennsylvania for a time were made safe ; but otherwise the 
year in America wore out with little result. 

During the next year, 1757, nothing took place, but the 
capture of Fort William Henry, by Montcalm, and the mas- 
sacre of its garrison by his Indians ; a scene, of which the 
readers of Cooper's Last of the Mohicans need scarce be 
reminded. This, and the near destruction of the British fleet 
by a gale, off Louisburg, were the leading events of this dark 
season: and no wonder that fear and despair sank deep into the 
hearts of the colonists. Xor was it in America alone, that Bri- 
tain sutfcred during that summer. On the continent, Frederic 
was borne down; in the Mediterranean, the navy of England 
had been defeated, and all was dark in the East; and, to add 
to the weight of these misfortunes, many of them came upon 
Pitt, the popular minister.* 

But the year 1758 opened under a new star. On sea and 
land, in Asia, Europe and America, Britain regained what 
bad been lost. The Austrians, Russians and Swedes, all gave 
way before the great Captain of Prussia, and Pitt sent his 
own strong, and hopeful, and energetic spirit into his subal- 
terns. In North America, Louisburg yielded to Boscawen ; 
Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet; and Du Quesne 
was abandoned upon the approach of Forbes through Penn- 
sylvania. From that time, the post at the Fork of the Ohio 
was Fort Pitt. 

In this last capture, as more particularly connected with 
the West, we are now chiefly interested. The details of the 
gathering and the march may be seen in the letters of Wash- 
ington, who, in opposition to Colonel Bouquet, was in favor 
of crossing the mountains by Braddock's road, whereas. Bou- 
quet wished to cut a new one through Pennsylvania. In this 

* Holmes' Annals, vol. ii. p. 73. — Bulk's Virginia, vol. iii. p. 221. — Day's Historical Col- 
lection! of Pcnnsj-lvania, 96. Ilolmos, (referring to New York Historical Collections, iii. 
399,) snys tlie Ohio Indians had already killed one thousand persons on the frontier : 
Armstrong diil not, however, diwtroy more than forty savages. 

file returned to oflSce, June 29th, 1757. 



1758 Route to Pennsylvania. 103 

division, Bouquet was listened to by the General; and late in 
the season a new route was undertaken, by which such delays 
and troubles were produced, that the whole expedition came 
near proving a failure. Braddock's road had, in early times, 
been selected by the most experienced Indians and frontier 
men as the most favorable whereby to cross the^mountains, 
being nearly the route by which the national road has been 
since carried over them. In 1753, it was opened by the Ohio 
Company. It was afterward improved by the Provincial 
troops under Washington, and was finished by Braddock's 
engineers ; * and this route was now to be given up, and a 
wholly new one opened, probably, as Washington suggested, 
through Pennsylvania influence, that her frontiers might there- 
by be protected, and a way opened for her traders. The 
hardships and dangers of the march from llaystown to Fort 
Du Quesne, where the British van arrived upon the 25th of 
November, may be seen slightl}^ pictured by the letters of 
Washington and the second journal of Post,t and may be 
more vividly conceived by those who have passed through the 
valley of the upper Juniata. J 

But, turning from this march, let us look at the position of 
things in the West, during the autumn of 1758. We have 
said, that in the outset the French did their utmost to alienate 
the Six Nations and Delawares from their old connexion with 
the British ; and so politic were their movements, so accurate 
their knowledge of Indian character, that they fully succeeded. 
The English, as we have seen, had made some foolish and in- 
iquitous attempts to get a claim to the western lands, and by 
rum and bumbo had even obtained grants of those lands ; but 
when the rum had evaporated, the wild men saw how they 
had been deceived, and listened not unwillingly to the French 
professions of friendship, backed as they were by presents and 
politeness, and accompanied by no attempts to buy or wheedle 
land from them.§ Early, therefore, many of the old allies of 
England joined her enemies; and the treaties of Albany, 

^■Sparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 102. 

■fProud's Pennsylvania, vol. ii. Appendix. 

JGen. Forbes waa so sick on this march as to be carried on a litter. He died in Phila- 
delphia a few days after the British took possession of Fort Du Quetnc, now Pittsburgh. 

§Seo Post's Journals; Pownall's Memoir on Service in North America. 



104 Disafcclion of the Indians. 1758. 

Johnson Hall, and Easton,"^ did little ornothing towards stop- 
ping the desolation of the frontiers of Pennsylvania. Mary- 
land, and Virginia. The Quakers always believed, that this 
state of enmity between the Delawares and themselves, or 
their rulers, might be prevented by a little friendly com- 
munion; but the peisuasions of the French, the renegade 
EngUsh traders, and others who had gone to the West, were 
great obstacles to any friendly conversation on the one side, 
and the co.mmon feeling among the whites was an equal diffi- 
culty on the other. In the autumn of 1756, a treaty w^as held 
at Easton with the Pennsylvania Delawares.f and peace 
agreed to. But this did not bind the Ohio Indians even of the 
same nation, much less the Shawanese and Mingoes ; and 
though the Sachem of the Pennsylvania savages, Teedyuscung, 
promised to call his western relatives with a loud voice, they 
did not, or would not hear him; the tomahawk and brand 
still shone among the rocky mountain fastnesses of the inte- 
rior. . or ci^'A . ny heart but pity the red men. They knew 
not whom to believe, nor where to look for a true friend. 
The French said they came to defend them from the English ; 
the English said they came to defend them from the French ; 
and between the two powers they were wasting away, and 
their homes disappearing before them. "The kings of France 
and England,' said Teedyuscung, "have settled this land so as 
to coop us up as if in a pen. This very ground that is under 
me was my land and inheritance, and is taken from me by 
fraud." Such being the feeling of the natives, and success 
being of late nearly balanced between the two European pow- 
ers, no wonder that they hung doubting, and knew not which 
way to turn. The French wished the eastern Delawares to 
move west, so as to bring them within their intiuence :J and the 
British tried to persuade them to prevail on their western 
brethren to leave their new allies and be at peace. 

In 175S, the condition of allaii-s being a,s stated, and Forbes' 

*MaEy treaties irere niaJe between 175.3 and 175S, which amounted to little or nothing. 
See Mas.=achusetu Hi.-torieal Collection?, toI. vii. p. 97. Sp irks' Franklin, vol. iii. pp. 4o6 
450. 471. Pniud's Pennsylvania, vol. ii. app. ; Friendly Association's Address, and Pott's, 
Journals. There were two Ea^tun treaties: one with the Penn-ylvania Delawares, in 1756, 
the other with all the Indians in 1758. See, also, in Proud's Pennsylvania, vol. ii. p. 331, 
an inquiry into the caases of quarrel with the Indians, and extracts from treaties, &e. 

t Sparks' Franklin, vol. vii. p. 125. 

JUeckewelder'i Narrative, p. 53. 



1758. C. F. Post sent West. 105 

army on the eve of starting for Fort Du Quesne, and the 
French being also disheartened by the British success else- 
where, and their force at Du Quesne weak, it was determined to 
make an effort to draw the western Indians over, and thereby 
still further to weaken the force that would oppose General 
Forbes. It was no easy matter, however, to find a true and 
trustworthy man, whose courage, skill, ability, knowledge, 
and physical power, would fit him for such a mission. He 
was to pass through a wilderness filled with doubtful friends, 
into a country filled with open enemies. The whole French 
interest v/ould be against him, and the Indians of the Ohio 
were little to be trusted. Every stream on his way had been 
dyed with blood, every hill-side had rung with the death-yell, 
and grown red in the light of burning huts. The man who 
was last chosen was a Moravian, who had lived among the 
savages seventeen years, and married among them ; his name 
Christian Frederic Post. Of his journey, sufferings, and 
doings, we have his own journal, though Heckewelder tells 
us, that those parts which redound most to his own credit, he 
omitted when printing it. He left Philadelphia upon the 15th 
of July, 1758; and, against the protestations of Teedyuscung, 
who said he would surely lose his life, proceeded up the Sus- 
quehanna, passing " many plantations deserted and laid 
waste." Upon the 7th of August, he came to the Allegheny, 
opposite French Creek, and was forced to pass under the 
very eyes of the garrison of Fort Venango, but was not mo- 
lested. From Venango he went to '-'Kushkushkee," which 
was on or near Big Beaver Creek. "This place," he says, 
"contained ninety houses and two hundred able warriors." 
At this place Post had much talk with the chiefs, who seemed 
well disposed, but somewhat afraid of the French. The great 
conference, however, it was determined, should be held oppo- 
site Fort Du Quesne, where there were Indians of eight na- 
tions. The messenger was at first unwilling to go thither, 
fearing the French would seize him ; but the savages said, 
"they would carry him in their bosom, he need fear nothing," 
and they well redeemed this promise. On the 24th of August, 
Post, with his Indian friends, reached the point opposite the 
Fort ; and there immediately followed a series of speeches, 
explanations and agreements, for which we must refer to his 
Journal. At first he was received rather hardly by an old 
7 



106 Conference at Fort Du Quesnc. 1758. 

« 

and deaf Onondago, who claimed the land whereon they 
stood as belonging to the Six Nations ; but a Delaware re- 
buked him in no very polite terms. "That man speaks not 
as a man," he said ; "he endeavors to frighten us by saying 
this ground is his; he dreams ; he and his father (the French) 
have certainly drank too much liquor ; they are drunk ; pray 
let them go to sleep till they are sober. You do not know 
what your o\^'n nation does at home, how much they have to 
say to the English. You are quite rotten. You stink. You 
do nothing but smoke your pipe here. Go to sleep with your 
father, and when you are sober we will speak to you." 

It was clear that the Delawares, and indeed all the western 
Indians, were wavering in their affection for the French ; and, 
though some opposition was made to a union with the colo- 
nists, the general feeling, produced by the prospect of a quick 
approach of Forbes' army, and by the truth and kindness of 
Post himself, was in favor of England. The Indians, howev- 
er, complained bitterly of the disposition which the whites 
showed in claiming and seizing their lands. "Why did you 
not fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of coming 
into our country to fight them ?" they asked, again and again ; 
and were mournful when they thought of the future. " Your 
heart is good," they said to Post, " you speak sincerely ; but 
we know there is always a great number who wish to get 
rich; thc}'^ have enough; look! we do not want to be rich, 
and take away what others have. The white people think 
we have no brains in our heads; that they are big, and we a 
little handful ; but remember, when you hunt for a rattlesnake 
you cannot find it, and perhaps it will bite you before you see 
it." When the war of Pontiac came, this saying might have 
been justly remembered. 

At length, having concluded a pretty definite peace, Post 
turned toward Philadelphia, setting out upon the 9th of Sep- 
tember ; and, after the greatest sufierings and perils from 
French scouts and Indians, reached the settlements unin- 
jured- 
While Post was engaged upon his dangerous mission, the 
van of Forbes' army was pressing slowly forward under the 
heats of August from Raystown, (Bedford,)* toward Loyal- 
hanna, hewing their way as they went. Early in September, 

♦ Sparks* Washington, ii. 312. 



1758. Major Grant Defeated. 107 

the General reached Raystovvn, whither he had also ordered 
Washington, who had till then been kept inactive among his 
sick troops at Fort Cumberland. Meantime two officers of the 
first Virginia regiment had gone sepji,rately, each with his 
party, to reconnoitre Fort du Quesne, and had brought ac- 
counts of its condition up to the 13th of August.* It being 
deemed desirable, however, to have fuller statements than 
they were able to give, a party of eight hundred men under 
Maj. Grant, with whom wxntMaj. Andrew Lewis of Virginia, 
w^as pushed forward to gain the desired information. Grant 
appears to have exceeded his orders, which were merely to ob- 
tain all the knowledge relative to the French which he could : 
and after having unwisely divided his force, he, with equal 
w^ant of sagacity, brought on an engagement ; having before 
him, perhaps, the vain hope that he should take the fort he 
was sent to examine. In the skirmish thus needlessly entered 
into, Grant's troops were thrown into confusion by their Indi- 
an foes. Lewis, who had been left two miles behind, hasten- 
ing forward when he heard the sound of firearms, to relieve 
his comrades, was unable to check the rout which had com- 
menced, and, together with his commanding officer, wastakea 
prisoner. Indeed, the whole detachment would have shared 
their fate, had not Capt. Bullitt, w^ith his fifty Virginians res- 
cued them. Ordering his men to lower their arms, this able 
officer waited until the Indians, who thought the little band, 
about to yield, were in full view, then giving the word, poured, 
upon the enemy a deadly fire, which was instantly followed 
by a charge with bayonet, a proceeding so unlooked for 
and so iatal as to lead to the complete rout of the assailants. 
This conduct of the Virginians was much admired, and Wash.- 
ington received publicly the compliments of the Commander- 
in Chief on account of it.f 

October had now arrived, and Washington was engaged in 
opening the road toward the Fork of the Ohio. On the 5th of 
November, he was still at Loyalhanna, where at one time the 
General thought of spending the winter; on the 15th, he was 
at Chesnut ridge, advancing from four to eight miles a day ; 

*3ee map in Sparks' Washington, ii.; also plate and account in Am. Pioneer, ii. 147. 

ISp.arks' Washington; ii. 313; note. — Butler's Kentucky,, 2J edition, Introduction, xliv. 
—Marshall's Life of Washington, (edition 1S04, rhiladelphia,) ii. 66. This defeat oc- 
curred, September 21. Washington commanded all the Virginia troops. 



108 Fort Du Quesne Taken. 1758. 

and in ten days more stood where Fort Du Quesne had been ; 
the French having destroyed it, when they embarked for the 
lower posts on the Ohio the preceding day. 

[Another great Indian council was held at Easton, Pa., 
(1758) in October, at which peace was concluded with the 
colonists. Here were the chiefs of the "Six Nations," (the 
Tuscaroras having joined the confederacy in 1715,) and their 
allies. Post, the Moravian, was sent back with this treaty, 
with the messengers to the West, within five weeks after his 
return.*] lie followed after Gen. Forbes, from whom he re- 
ceived messages to the various tribes, with which he once 
more sought their chiefs ; and was again very instrumental in 
preventing any junction of the Indians with the French. In- 
deed, but for Post's mission, there would in all probability 
have been gathered a strong force of western savages to way- 
lay Forbes and defend Fort Du Quesne ; in which case, so ad- 
verse was the season and the way, so wearied the men, and so 
badly managed the whole business, that there would have 
been great danger of a second "Braddock's field ; " so that 
our humble Moravian friend played no unimportant part in 
securing again to his British Majesty the key to western 
America. 

With the fall of Fort Du Quesne, all direct contest between 
the French and British in the West ceased. From that time, 
Canada was the only scene of operations, though garrisons 
for a while remained in the forts on French Creek. In 1759, 
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara, and at length Quebec 
itself yielded to the English; and, on the 8th of September, 
1760, Montreal, Detroit, and all Canada "were given up by 
Vaudreuil, the French governor. 

But the French had not been the only dwellers in western 
America; and when they were gone, the colonists still saw 
before them clouds of dark and jealous warriors. Indeed, no 
sooner were the Delawares quiet in the north, than the Chero- 
kees, who had been assisting Virginia against her foes, were 
roused to war by the thoughtless and cruel conduct of the fron- 
tier men, who shot several of that tribe, because they took 
some horses which they found running at large in the woods. 

»Sce a note in Burk's "History of Virginia," vol. iii, p. 2.39. American Pioneer, i. 2Ai, 
taken from the Annual Register for 1759, p. 191.^ The Iroquois were angry at the promi- 
nence of Teedyuscung in this treaty. 



1760. Settlements in the West Resumed. 109 

The ill-feeling bred by this act was eagerly fostered by the 
French in Louisiana ; and, while Amherst and Wolfe were 
pushing the war into Canada, the frontiers of Georgia, the 
Carolinas and Virginia, were writhing under the horrors of 
Indian invasion. This Cherokee war continued through 1760, 
and into 1761, but was terminated in the summer of the last- 
named year by Colonel Grant. We should be glad, did it 
come within our province, to enter somewhat at large into the 
events of it, as then came forward two of the most remarka- 
ble chiefs of that day, the Great Warrior and the Little Car- 
penter (xlttakullakuUa); but we must first refer our readers to 
the second volume of Thatcher's "Indian Biography." 

Along the frontiers of Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, 
the old plantations had been, one by one, reoccupied since 
175S, and settlers were slowly pushing further into the Indian 
country, and traders were once more bearing their burdens 
over the mountains, and finding a way into the wigwams of 
the natives, who rested, watching silently, but narrowly, the 
course of their English defenders and allies. For it was, pro- 
fessedly, in the character of defenders, that Braddock and 
Forbes had come into the West;* and, while every British 
finger itched for the lands as well as the furs of the wild men, 
with mistaken hypocrisy they would have persuaded them that 
the treasure and the life of England had been given to pre- 
serve her old allies, the Six Nations, and their dependents, the 
Delawares and Shawanese, from French aggression. But the 
savages knew whom they had to deal with, and looked at 
every step of the cultivator with jealousy and hate. 

In 1760, the Ohio Company once more prepared to pursue 
their old plan, and sent to England for such orders and in- 
structions to the Virginia government as would enable them 
to do so.f During the summer of that year, also, General 
Monkton, by a treaty at Fort Pitt, obtained leave to build posts 
within the wild lands, each post having ground enough about 
it to raise corn and vegetables for the use of the garrison. J 
Nor, if we can credit one writer, were the settlements of the 

^Sparks' Franklin, vol. iv. p. 32S. — Post's Journal shows how full of jealousy the Indi- 
ans were; see there also Forbes' letter, sent by him. 

fSparks' Washington, vol. ii. p. 482. — Plain Facts, p. 120, where a letter from the Com- 
pany, dated September 9th, 1761, is given. 

J Dated August 20th. Plain Facts, pp. 55, 56. 



110 Major Rogers Crosses the Ohio. 1760. 

Ohio Company, and the forts, the only inroads upon the hunt- 
ing grounds of the savages; for he says, that in 1757, by the 
books of the Secretary of Virginia, three millions of acres had * 
been granted west of the mountains. Indeed, we know that 
in 1758 she tried by law to encourage settlements in the 
West ; and the report of John Blair, Clerk of the Virginia 
Council, in 1768 or 1769, states that most of the grants be- 
yond the mountains were made before August, 1754.* At 
any rate, it is clear that the Indians early began to murmur; 
for, in 17G2, Bouquet issued his proclamation from Fort Pitt, 
saying that the treaty of Easton, in 1758, secured to the red 
men all lands west of the mountains as hunting-grounds ; 
wherefore he forbids all settlements, and orders the arrest of 
the traders and settlers M'ho were spreading discontent and 
fear among the Ohio Indians. f 

But if the Ohio Indians were early ill-disposed to the Eng- 
lish, much more was this the case among the Lake tribes, who 
had known only the French, and were strongly attached to 
them : the Ottaways, Wyandots and Chippeways. The first 
visit which they received from the British was after the sur- 
render of Vaudreuil, when Major Robert Rogers was sent to 
take charge of Detroit. J He left Montreal on the 13th of 
September, 17G0, and on the 8th of October, reached Presqu'- 
Ile, where Bouquet then commanded. Thence he went 
slowly up Lake Eric to Detroit, which place he summoned to 
yield itself on the 19th of November. It was, if we mistake 
not, while waiting for an answer to this summons, that he was 
visited by the great Ottawa chieftain, Pontiac, Mho demanded 
how the English dared enter his country ; to which the answer 
was given, that they came not to take the country, but to open 
a free way of trade, and to put out the French, who stopped 
their trade. This answer, together with other moderate and 
kindly words, spoken by Rogers, seemed to lull the rising 
fears of the savages, and Pontiac promised him his protection. 
Beleter, meantime, who commanded at Detroit, had not 
yielded; nay, word was brought to Rogers on the 24th, that 

•Contest in North America, by an Iinpartial Hand, p. 3C. — Secret Journals, vol. iii. p. 
187. — Plain Facts. Appendix. 

t Plain Facts, p. 56. — Sec Ilcckewelder's Narrative, p. 64. 

J Sec his Journal, London, 1765. Also, his Concise Account of North America. Lon- 
don. 1765. 



1761. Henry at Mackinac. Ill 

his messenger had been confined, and a flag-pole erected, 
with a wooden head upon it, to represent Britain, on which 
stood a crow picking the eyes out, as emblematic of the suc- 
cess of France. In a few days, however, the commander 
heard of the fate of the lower posts, and, as his Indians did 
not stand by him, on the 29th he yielded. Rogers remained 
at Detroit until December 23d, under the personal protection 
of Pontiac, to whose presence he probably owed his safety. 
From Detroit the Major went to the Maumee, and thence 
across the present State of Ohio to Fort Pitt; and his Journal 
of this overland trip is the first we have of such an one in that 
region. His route was nearly that given by Hatchins,* in 
Bouquet's "Expedition," as the common one from Sandusky 
to the Fork of the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where 
Sandusky City now is, crossed the Huron river, then called 
Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon John's Town," upon what 
we know as Mohicon Creek, the northern branch of White 
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Del- 
aware town on the west side of the "Maskongam Creek," 
opposite "a fine river," which from Hutchins' map, we presume 
was Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were one hundred and 
eighty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of 
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek 
and across to the Big Beaver, and up the Ohio, through Logs- 
town, to Fort Pitt, which place Rogers reached January 23d, 
1760, precisely one month having,passed while he was upon 
the way. 

In the spring of the year following Rogers' visit, (1761,) 
Alexander Henry, an English trader, went to Michillimackinac i 
for purposes of business, and he found everywhere the strong- 
est feeling against the English, who had done nothing by 
word or act to conciliate the Indians. Even then there were 
threats of reprisals and war. Having by means of a Canadi- 
an dress, managed to reach Michillimackinac in safety, he was 
there discovered, and was waited on by an Indian chief, who 
was, in the opinion of Thatcher, Pontiac himself. This chief, 
after conveying to him the idea, that their French father 
would soon awake and utterly destroy his enemies, continued: 

" Englishman ! Although you have conquered the French, 

* Thomas Hutchins, afterwards Geographer of the United States, was, in 1"G4, assistant 
engineer in Bouquet's expedition. 



Hi Treaty at Paris. 1763. 

'^'ou have not conquered us ! We are not your slaves ! These 
lakes, these woods, these mountains, were left to us by our an- 
cestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them 
to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, 
cannot live without bread, and pork, and beef. But you ought 
to know that He, the Great Spirit and IMaster of Life, has 
provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in these 
mountains." 

He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made 
with them, no presents sent them, and while he announced 
their intention to allow Henry to trade unmolested, and to 
regard him as a brother, he declared, that with his king the 
red men were still at war.* 

Such were the feelings of the north-western savages imme- 
diately after the English took possession of their lands ; and 
these feelings were in all probability fostered and increased by 
the Canadians and French. Distrust of the British was gen- 
eral; and, as the war between France and England still went 
on in other lands, there was hope among the Canadians, per- 
haps, that the French power might be restored in America. 
However this may have been, it is clear that disaffection 
spread rapidly in the West, though of the details of the years 
from 1759 to 1763 we know hardly anything. 
/ Upon the 10th of February, 1763, the treaty of Paris was 
concluded, and peace between the European powers restored. 
Of that treaty we give the essential provisions bearing upon 
our subject. 

Art. 4. "His most Christian Majesty renounces all preten- 
sions M'hich he has heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova 
Scotia or Acadia in all its parts, and guarantees the whole of 
it, and with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain : 
moreover, his most Christian Majesty cedes and guarantees to 
his said Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its 
dependencies, as well as the island of Cape Breton, and all 
tlie other islands and coasts in the gulf and river of St. Law- 
rence ; and, in general, every thing that depends on the said 
countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, 
property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty or 
otherwise, which the most Christian King and crown of France 
have had, till now, over the said countries, islands, lands, 
places, coasts, and their inhabitants ; so that the most Christian 

•Travels of Alexander Henry in Tanada, from 1700 to 1776. Nctt York, 1?09.— 
Hiatcher'a Indian Biography, vol. ii. jip. 75, et eeq. 



1763. Treaty at Paris. 113 

King, cedes and makes over the whole to the said King, and 
to the crown of Great Britain, and that in the most ample 
manner and form, without restriction, and without any liberty 
to depart from the said cession and guarantee under any pre- 
tence, or to disturb Great Britain in the possessions above 
mentioned. 

Art. 7. "In order to establish peace on solid and durable 
foundations, and to remove forever all subjects of dispute 
with regard to the limits of the British and French territories 
on the continent of America, it is agreed that for the future, 
the confines between the dominions of his Britaninc Majesty 
and those of his most Christian Majesty in that part of the 
world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the 
middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the river 
Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle 
of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to 
the sea; and for this purpose, the most Christian King cedes, 
in full right, and guarantees to his Britannic Majesty, the 
river and port of the Mobile, and every thing which he pos- 
sesses or ought to possess on the left side of the river Missis- 
sippi, with the exception of the town of New Orleans, and of 
the island in which it is situated, which shall remain to France; 
it being well understood that the navigation of the river Mis- 
sissippi shall be equally free, as well to the subjects of Great 
Britain as to those of France, in its whole breadth and length 
from its source to the sea ; and expressly, that part which is 
between the said island of New Orleans, and the right bank 
of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its 
mouth. It is further stipulated that the vessels belonging to 
the subjects of either nations shall not be stopped, visitedj or 
subjected to the payment of any duty whatsoever." 



CHAPTER iV. 

INDIAN CONSPIRACY, TREATIES, AND EXPLORATIONS OF 
THE WEST, FROM 17G3 TO 1774. 

Indian Conspiracy under Pontiac— Stratagem at Detroit Defeated— Massacre at Mackinac — 
Treaty of Detroit — Settlement of St. Louis and transfer of Louisiana — Treaty of Fort 
Stanwix — Expedition of Col. Croglian — Dr. Wallicr's Company — Col. James Smith's 
Expedition to Kentucky — Daniel Boone's Exploration — Emigration to Kentucky and 
Mississippi. 

Again, men began to think seriously of the West. Pamph- 
lets wove published upon the advantages of settlements on 
the Ohio ; Colonel Mercer was chosen to represent the old 
Company in England, and try to have their affairs made 
straight, for there were counter-claims by the soldiers who 
had enlisted, in 1751, under Dinwiddle's proclamation ; and 
on all hands there were preparations for movement. But, 
even at that moment, there existed through the whole West a 
conspiracy or agreement among the Indians, from Lake Michi- 
gan to the frontiers of North Carolina, by which they were, 
with one accord, with one spirit, to fall upon the Mhole line 
of British posts and strike every white man dead. Chippe- 
ways, Ottoways, Wyandotts, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares, 
and JMingoes, for the time, laid by their old hostile feelings, 
and united under Pontiac in this great enterprise. The voice 
of that sagacious and noble man was heard in the distant 
North, crying, "Why, says the Great Spirit, do you suffer these 
dogs in red clothing to enter your country and take the land 
I have given you ? Drive them from it ! Drive them ! When 
you are in distress, I will help you." 

That voice was heard, but not by the whites. The unsus- 
pecting traders journeyed from village to village; the soldiers 
in the forts shrunk from the sun of early summer, and dozed 
away the day; the frontier settler, singing in fancied security, 
sowed his crop, or, watching the sunset through the girdled 
trees, mused upon one more peaceful harvest, and told his 
children of the horrors of the ten years' war, now, — thank 
God ! over. From the Alleghenies to the ^lississippi the trees 



1763. Nine Forts Captured. 115 

had leaved, and all was calm life and joy. But, through that 
great country, even then, bands of sullen red men were jour- 
neying from the central valleys to the lakes and the eastern 
hills. Bands of Chippeways gathered about Michillimackinac. 
Ottaways filled the woods near Detroit. The Maumee post, 
Presqu'lle, Niagara, Pitt, Ligonier, and every English fort was 
hemmed in by mingled tribes, who felt that the great battle 
drew nigh which was to determine their fate and the posses- 
sion of their noble lands ! At last the day came. The traders 
everywhere were seized, their goods taken from them, and 
more than one hundred of them put to death. JNine British 
forts yielded instantly, and the savages drank, "scooped up in 
the hollow of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton. The 
border streams of Pennsylvania and Virginia ran red again. 
"We hear," says a letter for Fort Pitt, "of scalping every 
hour." In Western Virginia, more than twenty thousand* 
people were driven from their homes. 

[The forts, or rather trading posts, were those of Green Bay,- 
St. Joseph, Ouiatenon, Miamis, Sandusky, Presqu'lle, Leboeuf, 
Venango, and Michillimackinac. Three others, Niagara, Pitt, 
and Detroit, were attacked but not taken. The master spirit 
of this enterprise was Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, who resided 
near Detroit. He was one of those heroic men who stamp 
their own character on their country and the age. No Ameri- 
can Savage has shown a more marked character, in forming 
great and comprehensive plans, or in executing them with 
energy and boldness. He had been friendly and liberal with 
the French, but he disliked the British, though, as a matter of 
policy, he professed friendship at first. After Canada and its 
dependencies had surrendered to the British arms, in 1760, 
General Amherst of Montreal, dispatched Major R. Rogers 
with a considerable force, to take possession of Detroit and 
Mackinac. These were the first English troops that ever 
penetrated that region. 

Drawing near to Detroit, they received a message from 
Pontiac, informing Major Rogers that their chief was master 
of the country they had entered. The commander was intro- 
duced to the great chief, who condescended to smoke the pipe 
of peace and make a treaty. 

One of the speeches of Pontiac we here insert as illustra- 
tive of the character of that man : 



116 Attempt on Detroit. 1763. 

"Englishmen ! It is to you that I speak — and I demand your 
attention. Englishmen ! You know that the French King is 
our father. He promised to be such, and we, in return, 
promised to be his children — this promise we have kept. 

"Englishmen ! It is you that have made war with this, our 
father. You are his enemy — how then could you have the 
boldness to venture among us, his children? You know that 
his enemies are ours ! 

"Englishmen ! We are informed that our father, the King of 
France, is old and infirm; and that, being fatigued with mak- 
ing war upon your nation, he has fallen asleep. During his 
sleep you have taken advantage of him, and possessed your- 
selves of Canada. But his nap is almost at an end — I think 
I hear him already stirring, and inquiring for his children, the 
Indians — and when he does awake, what must become of you? 
He will destroy you utterly !" 

After deceiving the British by a treaty, Pontiac laid the plan 
of a sudden and cotemporaneous attack upon all the British 
forts and trading posts on the northern lakes. 

He sent runners with a "talk" and a belt of wampum, which 
he pretended had been sent him by the King of France, to the 
Indian tribes along the line of frontier, by which means he 
brought into a conspiracy the Miamis, the Ottawas, the Chip- 
pewas, the Wyandots, the Potawatamies, the ^lissisaugas, the 
Shawanoes, the Saukies, the Ottagamies, and the Winneba- 
goes. His measures were taken with so much secrecy that 
the storm burst on each garrison in the month of May, before 
the English had learned the plans of their enemy, or had made 
any preparation for defence. 

Fort Pitt and Niagara, being regular fortifications, were 
successfully defended, and Detroit was saved by detection of 
the stratagem. 

This post was attempted by Pontiac in person, who, with a 
number of braves, presented himself at the gate on the 8th of 
May, and desired to speak with the commanding officer. This 
was Maj. Gladwyn, who, unsuspicious of treachery, and believ- 
ing he desired to trade, and that "the Indians desired to take 
their new father, the King of England, by the hand," gave his 
consent, and the council was to be held next day in the fort. 

The plan of Po;itiac was to gain admittance into the fort, 
with a number of his braves, who had cut short their guns so 
as to be concealed under their blankets, and at a signal he 
would give, they were to massacre the officers, throw open 



1763. Macanac Captured. 117 

the gates, admit the other Indians, and complete the destruc- 
tion of the garrison. 

An Indian woman, who had been employed by the comman- 
dant to make moccasins, out of a curiously wrought elk skin, 
betrayed the conspirators. Next morning the garrison was 
under arms, the guards were doubled, and the officers armed 
with swords and pistols. Pontiac, on his arrival, enquired of 
the British commandant the cause of this unusual display, and 
received for answer, it was necessary to keep his young men 
from being idle. The council opened, the speech of Pontiac 
was bold and menacing, and his voice and gesticulations 
vehement. When he was about to give his men the signal, 
the drums beat the charge, the guards levelled their muskets, 
the officers drew their swords, and Pontiac, though a brave 
man, was disconcerted. Major Gladwyn approached the 
chief, turned aside his blanket, discovered the shortened gun, 
exposed his plan, reproached him for his treachery, and 
ordered him and his braves to leave the fort. The garrison in 
the fort consisted of 122 men, officers included, besides some 
forty traders and engagees who resided in the fort. 

As the Indians retired they gave a yell, and discharged their 
guns at the garrison. They also murdered an aged English 
woman and her two sons, and a discharged sergeant and his 
family in the vicinity. A furious attack was made upon the 
fort for several days, and repeated attempts made by the 
Indians to gain possession. At one time they filled a cart 
with combustibles and ran it against the pickets to set them 
on fire. For several months the English were blockaded and 
their supplies cut off". There was great difficulty in sending 
aid to Detroit from the Southern posts. Niagara and Fort 
Pitt had become reduced to great distress, and the latter was 
finally relieved by Colonel Bouquet, who penetrated the 
wilderness of Pennsylvania by Bedford and Fort Ligonier, 
with 300 men and forty horses, loaded with provisions. 

The post of Michillimackinac was attacked, entered, and 
seventy of the garrison killed and scalped, on the 4th of June, 
the same year. The garrison consisted of ninety men, besides 
two subaltern officers, under the command of Major Ethering- 
ton. Sometime previous, this officer had received intelligence 
of the hostility of the Indians, but he would not believe it. 
Besides the garrison, there were within the limits of the stock- 



lis Stratagem at Mackinac. 1763. 

ade, about thirty cabins, inhabited by as many French families. 
Among the traders at this post was i\Ir, Alexander Henry, 
who, after a narrow escape from the massacre, wrote a narra- 
tive of the events in the Northwest at this period, which is 
reliable history. We give the substance of his account of the 
attack on this post, with copious references. 

"On the 4lh of June, the morning was sultry, and the 
Chippeways projected a game of ball called Baggatiicay, with 
the Sacks, for a high wager, and they gave an invitation to 
the British oIFicers, to be present. This game is played with 
a bat and ball ; the bat being about four feet long, curved, and 
ending in a sort of racket. Two posts were planted in the 
ground, a half mile or more apart, and the issue of the game 
consisted in striking the ball beyond either post. 

On the ground, midway between the posts, the ball is 
placed. The Indians being divided into two parties, played 
with great animation and much noise and confusion. In the 
heat of the contest the ball was frequently, as if by accident, 
sent over the pickets into the fort, and the commandant, with 
the subalterns and a part of the soldiers, went out to witness 
the game. When the ball was sent within the pickets, num- 
bers of both parties ran within the fort, until the artifice was 
repeated several times, and the British thrown off their guard, 
not suspecting treachery. At this crisis, the ball was again 
thrown over the pickets, and the Indians, in great numbers 
rushed in, as if to recover the ball, but with arms concealed, 
and commenced a furious attack on the garrison. In a short 
time they had possession of the fort. About seventy, including 
the commander, several officers and traders, and the garrison 
and servants, were killed and scalped. The remainder, being 
saved as prisoners, were taken to Montreal, where the}' were 
redeemed. Carver says, "the Indians had the humanity to 
spare the lives of the greatest part of the garrison and 
traders." The Indians numbered nearly 400 braves."*] 

It was now nearly autumn, and the confederated tribes had 

*For further imrtioulars of Pontiac, the stratagem at Detroit, massacre at Mackinac, 
and events of 17C.'5, the reader is refen-ed to the ftl'owing autXorities. Carver's Travels, 
p. 13, rhilailelphia edition, 179G. Uenry'i Narrative. Dralie's Captivities, pp. 289, 292. 
Drake's Book of the Indians, book v, art. Tontiak, pp.52, 53. Ilolmcs' Annals, vol. ii, p. 
121. Sparks' Washington, vol. ii, map at p. "S. Day's Historical Collections of Penn- 
sylvania, GSl. Thateh:r's Indian Biographij, vol.ii, p. S3. Lanman's Histonj of Michigan, 
pp. 121, 121. Dillon's Indiana, vol. i, pp. S2, S3. Browa's Illinois, pp. pp. 192. 204. 



1763. Royal P reclamation. 119 

failed to take the three most important fortresses in the West, 
Detroit, Pitt, and Niagara. Many of them became disheart- 
ened ; others wished to return home for the winter ; others 
had satisfied their longings for revenge. United merely by 
the hope of striking and immediate success, they fell from one 
another when that success did not come; jealousies and old 
enmities revived ; the league was broken ; and Pontiac was 
left alone or with few followers. 

In October, also, a step was taken by the British govern- 
ment, in part, for the purpose of quieting the fears and sus- 
picions of the red men, which did much, probably, toward 
destroying their alliance ; a proclamation was issued contain- 
ing the following paragraphs and prohibitions : 

And, whereas, it is just and reasonable, and essential to our 
interest and the security of our colonies, that the several na- 
tions or tribes of Indians with whom we are connected, and 
who live under our protection, should not be molested or 
disturbed in the possession of such parts of our dominions and 
territories as, not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, 
are reserved to them, or any of them, as their hunting 
grounds; we do, therefore, with the advice of our privy coun- 
cil, declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, that no 
Governor or Commander-in-chief, in any of our colonies of 
Quebec, East Florida, or West Florida, do presume, upon any 
pretence whatever, to grant warrants of survey, or pass any 
patents for lands beyond the bounds of their respective gov- 
ernments, as described in their commissions ; as, also that no 
Governor or Commander-in-chief of our other colonies or 
plantations in America, do presume for the present, and until 
our further pleasure be known, to grant warrants of survev, 
or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of 
any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the 
west or northwest; or upon any lands whatever, which, not 
having been ceded to, or purchased by us, as aforesaid, are 
reserved to the said Indians or any of them. 

And we do further declare it t > be our royal will and 
pleasure, for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our 
sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of the said 
Indians, all the land and territories not included within the 
limits of our said three new governments, or within the 
limits of the territory granted to the Pludson's Bay Company; 
as also all the lands and territories lying to the westward of 
the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the west 
and northwest as aforesaid; and we do hereby strictly forbid, 
on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from makin"- 
any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession 



120 Royal Proclamation. 1763. 

of any of the lands above reserved, w^ithout our special leave 
and license for that purpose first obtained. 

And we do further strictly enjoin and require all persons 
whatever, who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated 
themselves upon any lands within the countries above descri- 
bed, or upon any other lands, which, not having been ceded 
to, or purchased by us, are still reserved to the said Indians, as 
aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such settle- 
ments. 

And whereas, great frauds and abuses have been committed 
in the purchasing lands from the Indians, to the great preju- 
dice of our interests, and to the great dissatisfaction of the 
Indians; in order, therefore, to prevent such irregularities for 
the future, and to the end that the Indians may be convinced 
of our justice and determined resolution to remove all reason- 
able cause of discontent, we do, with the advice of our privy 
council, strictly enjoin and require that no private person do 
presume to make any purchase from the said Indians, of any 
lands reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our 
colonies where we have thought proper to allow settlement; 
but that, if at any time, any of the said Indians should be 
inclined to dispose of the said lands, the same shall be pur- 
chased only for us, in our name, at some public meeting or 
assembly of the said Indians, to be held for that purpose, by 
the Governor or Commander-in-chief of our colony, respec- 
tively, within which they shall lie : and in case they shall lie 
within the limits of any proprietaries, conformable to such 
directions and instructions as we or they shall think proper 
to give for that purpose : and we do, by the advice of our 
privy council, declare and enjoin, that the trade with the said 
Indians shall be free and open to all our subjects whatever : 
Provided. That every person who may incline to trade with 
the said Indians, do take out a license, for carrying on such 
trade, from the Governor or Commander-in-chief of any of 
our colonies, respectively, where such person shall reside ; 
and also give security to observe such regulations as we shall, 
at any time, think fit, by ourselves or commissaries, to be ap- 
pointed for this purpose, to direct and appoint, for the benefit 
of the said trade ; and we do hereby authorize, enjoin, and 
require the Governors and Commanders-in chief of all our 
colonies, respectively, as well those under our immediate 
government as those under the government and direction of 
proprietaries, to grant such licenses without fee or reward, 
taking especial care to insert therein a condition that such 
license shall be void, and the security forfeited, in case the 
person to whom tlie same is granted shall refuse or neglect to 
observe such regulations as we shall think proper to prescribe 
as aforesaid. 



1763. Settlement of St. Louis. 121 

To assist the effect of this proclamation, it was determined 
to make two movements in the spring and summer of 1764 ; 
General Bradstreet being ordered into the country upon Lake 
Erie, and Bouquet into that upon the Ohio. The former 
moved to Niagara early in the summer, and there in June, 
accompanied by Sir WilHam Johnson, held a grand council 
with twenty or more tribes, all of whom sued" for peace ; and, 
upon the 8th of August, reached Detroit, where, about the 
21st of that month, a definite treaty was made Math the 
Indians. Among the provisions of this treaty were the fol- 
lowing : * 

1. All prisoners in the hands of the Indians were to be 
given up. 

2. All claims to the Posts and Forts of the English in the 
West were to be abandoned ; and leave given to erect such 
other forts as might be needed to protect the traders, &c. 
Around each fort as much land was ceded as a "Cannon-shot" 
would fly over. 

3. If any Indian killed an Englishman he was to be tried 
by English law, the Jury one-half Indians. 

4. Six hostages were given by the Indians for the true ful- 
filment of the conditions of the treaty.f 

[During the period of the Indian conspiracy under Pontiac, 
and the negotiations for peace, a series of events were open- 
ing in another quarter, of which, British authorities took no 
notice. We allude to the settlement of St. Louis, and the 
progress of civilization along the Mississippi. The lead busi- 
ness commenced, under PhiHp Francis Renault, in 1720, and 
was prosecuted at various periods, and the trade with the 
Indians in peltry was conducted by individual enterprise. 
But in 1763, Pierre Li<rueste Laclede, an enterprising trader, 
obtained a grant from M. D'Abadie, director general of Louis- 
iana, with "the necessary powers to trade with the Indians of 
the Missouri, and those west of the Mississippi, above the 
Missouri, as far north as the river St. Peters." 

'Annual Register, 1764.— (State Papers, 181.) 

tllenry's Narrative (New York edition, 1809, pp. 185, 186. Henry was with Bradstreet 
The Annual Register of 1764, (State Paper., p. 181, says the treaty waa made at Pre^-qu'Ile" 
(Erie.) Mr. Harvey, of Erie, (quoted by Day in his Historical Collections of Pennsylvania' 
314, says the same. Others have named the Maumee, where a truce was a-reed to Au' 
gust Gth. (See Henry.) There may have been two treaties, one at Detroit with the Otta 
waa, Ac, and one at Erie with the Ohio Indians. 
8 



122 Site of St. Louis Described. 1764. 

Laclede organized a company under the firm of " Laclede, 
Maxan & Co.," fitted out an expedition, and started from 
New Orleans on the third day of August, 1763, and reached 
Ste. Genevieve, (then a small village on the bank of the 
Mississippi) on the 3d of November, just three months after 
his departure. Finding no place in which to store his goods, 
he proceeded' tb Fort Chartres, then under command of M. St. 
Ange de Belle Rive. He left this point early in February, 
1764, with the men he brought from New Orleans, with a 
reinforcement from Ste. Genevieve, Fort Chartres and Kas- 
kaskia, and stopped a short time at Cahokia, then called 
'^Notre Dame dcs Kahokias,^'' and engaged several families to 
accompany him to his projected settlement. On the Jiftccnth 
of February, the party landed on the west bank of the IMissis- 
sippi, on the spot now occupied by the city of St. Louis, and 
commenced cutting down the trees, and erecting cabins for the 
accommodation of his goods and men. He laid off* a village 
plat, with narrow streets, which he named St. Louis, in honor 
of Louis XV. of France. 

At that time a skirt of tall timber lined the bank of the 
river, free from undergrowth, which extended back to a line 
about the range of Eighth street. In the rear was an exten- 
sive prairie. The first cabins were erected near the river and 
Market street. No"Bloody Island," or "Duncan's Island," then 
existed. Directly opposite the Old Market square, the river 
was narrow and deep, and until about the commencement of 
the present century, persons could be distinctly heard from 
the opposite shore. Opposite Duncan's Island and South St. 
Louis was an island, covered with heavy timber and separated 
from the Illinois shore by a slough. Many persons are now 
living (1850) who recollect the only ferry from Illinois to St. 
Louis, passed from Cahokia, below this island, and landed on 
the Missouri shore near the site of the United States Arsenal. 

It deserves note that at this period, Louisiana belonged to 
Spain, and the Illinois country, the north-west and Canada, to 
Great Britain. 

By a secret treaty, signed on the third of November, 1702, 
between the French and Spanish kings, the former ceded to 
the latter the part of the province of Louisiana, which lay 
on the western side of the Mississippi river, including the 
island and city of New Orleans, on the eastern side, but it 



1769. Change of Government. 123 

was not until the 21st of April, 1764, that the governor, M. 
D'Abadie, received orders from Louis XV. to proclaim this 
change to the colony. 

The governor was so deeply distressed at these orders, that 
it caused his death.* 

The administration remained in the hands of the French 
under Aubri, the successor of M. D'Abadie. The colonists 
had a great aversion to the Spanish government, and when 
the Court of Madrid sent, as Captain General, Don Antonio 
D'Ulloa, a man of prudence and discretion, he could not 
openly exercise his authority. The colonists sent deputies to 
Versailles for permission from the King to remain subjects of 
France. Louis XV. declared the cession was irrevocable. 

The Spanish general, Don Alexander O'Reilly, was ap- 
pointed as the successor of D'Ulloa in 1769, with special power 
to compel subjection, with three thousand soldiers. The col- 
onists at New Orleans attempted to prevent his landing, and 
it was only by the influence of the French magistrates, who 
saw the hopelessness of a violent contest with the crown of 
Spain, unaided by their former government, that he obtained 
possession. O'Reilly was a tyrant and barbarian, and ruled 
only by superior force. Six principal citizens were con- 
demned and shot by his orders ! f 

For our authority, concerning the appearance of the site 
of St. Louis and the aspect of the river, we are indebted to 
the late Auguste Chouteau, Sen., and several other inhabitants 
of St. Louis, who were living thirty years since. 

We cannot well give the Annals of St. Louis, of Missouri, 
and of Illinois, with the correctness and particularity desirable, 
in the body of the work, prepared by Mr Perkins, without 
trenching on the narrative of events that transpired in other 
parts of the West at the same period. Our readers will find 
the whole in the Appendix.] 

Bouquet, meanwhile, collected troops at Fort Pitt, and in 
the autumn marched across from Big Beaver to the upper 
Muskingum, and thence to the point where the White Wo- 
man's river comes into the main stream. There, upon the 9th 
of November, he concluded a peace with the Delawares and 
Shawanese, and received from them two hundred and six pris- 



*Marlx)i6' History of Louisiana, p. 136. 
tibid. Also, Martin's History of Louisiana, 



Tol. ii. p. 7. 



124 Captives Delivered up. 1765. 

oners, eighty-one men and one hundred and twenty-five 
women and children. He also received, from the Shawanese, 
hostages for the delivery of some captives, who could not be 
brought to the Muskingum at that time. These hostages 
escaped, but the savages were of good faith, and upon the 
9th of May, 1765, the remaining whites were given up to 
George Croghan, the deputy of Sir William Johnson, at Fort 
Pitt.* Many anecdotes are related in the account of the de- 
livery of the captives to Bouquet, going to show that strong 
attachments had been formed between them aud their cap- 
tors ; and West's pencil has illustrated the scene of their de- 
livery. But we have little faith in the representations of 
either writer or painter.f 

Pontiac, the leading spirit in the past struggle, finding his 
attempts to save his country and his race at that time hopeless, 
left his tribe and went into the West, and for some years after 
was living among the Illinois, and in St. Louis, attempting, 
but in vain, to bring about a new union and new war. He 
was in the end killed by a Kaskaskia Indian. So far as we 
can form a judgment of this chieftain, he was, in point of 
talent, nobleness of spirit, honor, and devotion, the superior 
of any red man of whom we have an account. His plan of 
extermination was most masterly; his execution of it equal 
to its conception. But for the treachery of one of his follow- 
ers, he would have taken Detroit early in May. His whole 
force might then have been directed in one mass, first upon 
Niagara, and then upon Pitt, and in all probability both posts 
would have fallen.J Even disappointed as he was at Detroit, 
had the Six Nations, with their dependent allies, the Dela- 
wares and Shawanese, been true to him, the British might 
have been long kept beyond the mountains; but the Iroquois, 
— close upon the colonies, old allies of England, very greatly 

»Scc, however, American Archives, fourth series, i. 1015, where the good faith of the 
Shawanese is disputed. 

I " An Historical Account of the Expedition against the Ohio Indians in the year 1764, 
under the command of Henry Bouquet, Esuuire, &c. Published from Authentic Docu- 
ments, by a Lover of his Country. London, 17G6. This volume was first printed in 
Philadelphia. 

JThatchcr's Indian Biography, vol. ii. Our knowledge of Pontiac and his war is very 
imited. We hope something more ULiy come to light yet. Nicollet in his Report, (p. 81,) 
gives some particulars from one who know Pontiac. His death was revenged by the North- 
em nations, who nearly exterminated the Illinois. 



1765. Col. CrogharCs Exploration. 125 

under the influence of Sir William Johnson, and disposed, as 
they ever proved themselves, to claim and sell, but not to 
defend the West, — were for peace after the King's proclama- 
tion. Indeed, the Mohawks and leading tribes were from the 
first with the British ; so that, after the success of Bradstreet 
and Bouquet, there was no difficulty in concluding a treaty 
with all the Western Indians; and late in April, 1765, Sir 
William Johnson, at the German Flats, held a conference with 
the various nations, and settled a definite peace.* At this 
meeting two propositions were made ; the one to fix some 
boundary line, west of which the Europeans should not go ; 
and the savages named, as this line, the Ohio or Allegheny 
and Susquehanna ; but no definite agreement was made, 
Johnson not being empowered to act. The other propo- 
sal was, that the Indians should grant to the traders, who 
had suffered in 1763, a tract of land in compensation for the 
injuries then done them, and to this the red men agreed. f 

[ After the peace of 1763, Col. George Croghan, a commis- 
sioner under Sir William Johnson, was sent to explore the 
country adjacent to the Ohio river, to conciliate the Indians. 
His Journal may be found in the "American Monthly Journal 
of Geology and Natural Science," published m Philadelphia 
in 1831-32, vol. i. p. 257 ; and in the Appendix to Butler's 
''History of Kentucky," (second edition.) 

Accompanied by the deputies of the Senecas, Shawanese, 
and Delawares, Col. Croghan left Pittsburgh, May I5th, 1765, 
with two batteaux, proceeded down the Ohio river, and on 
the 6th of June reached *the mouth of the Wabash. From 
this point he dispatched two Indian runners with letters to 
Lord Frazer, a British officer, who had been sent from Fort 
Pitt to take possession of Illinois, and to M. St. Ange, the 
French commandant at Fort Chartres. 

On the 8th, at daybreak, his party was attacked "by a 
party of Indians, consisting of eighty warriors of the Kicka- 
poos and Musquatimes," (probably Musquakies.) They 
killed two white men and three Indians of his party, wounded 
the commander, and made him and "all the white men 
prisoners," after plundering them of all they possessed. One 
of the Shawanese, who, being wounded, had concealed him- 

«Plam Facts, p. 60. 

"(■pjid. — Butler's History of Kentucky, second edition, p. 479, et. seq. 



126 Col Croghan Returns. 1765. 

self in the bushes, finding the hostile party were from Illinois, 
came forward, gave them an Indian talk, and threatened 
them with the vengeance of the Shaw^anese nation. This 
alarmed them, and they set off with their prisoners to their 
towns on the Ouiatenon, up the Wabash. Passing through 
Vincennes, he found a village of eighty or ninety French 
families. The Colonel represents the French as inimical to 
him and the British, and as shai'ing the plunder with the Indi- 
ans. He gives a description of the country and the fertility 
of the soil with creditable accuracy. Revisited the Twigtwee 
and several other Indian villages, passed by the present site 
of Fort Wayne, thence down the Maumee to Lake Erie and 
round to Detroit, which he reached on the 16th of August. 

On the 26th of September he set out from Detroit, passed 
along the north shore of Lake Erie in a birch canoe, and 
reached Niagara on the 8th of October. At the close of his 
Journal is a list of Indian tribes, their localities, and their 
hunting grounds, from New York to Mississippi.] 

Mr. Perkins observes : So stood matters in the West during 
this year, 1765. All beyond the Alleghenies, with the excep- 
tion of a few forts, was a wilderness, until the Wabash was 
reached, where dwelt a few French, with some fellow coun- 
trymen, not far from them, upon the Illinois and Kaskaskiai 
The Indians, a few years since, undisputed owners of the 
prairies and broad vales, now held them by sufferance, having 
been twice conquered by the arms of England. They, of 
course, felt both hatred and fear ; and, while they despaired 
of holding their lands, and looked forward to unknown evils, 
the deepest and most abiding spirit of revenge was roused 
within them. They had seen the British coming to take their 
hunting-grounds upon the strength of a treaty they knew not of. 
They had been forced to admit British troops into their country ; 
and, though now nominally protected from settlers, that prom- 
ised protection would be but an incentive to passion, in case it 
was not in good faith extended to them. 

And it was not in good faith extended to them by either 
individuals or governments. During the year that succeeded 
the treaty of German Flats, settlers crossed the mountains 
and took possession of lands in western Virginia, and along 
the Monongahela. The Indians, haying received no pay for 
these lands, murmured, and once more a border war was 



1767. Purchase of Lands. 127 

feared. General Gage, commander of the King's forces, was 
applied to, probably through Sir William Johnson, and issued 
his orders for the removal of the settlers ; but they defied his 
commands and his power, and remained where they were. * 
And not only were frontier men thus passing the line tacitly 
urged on, but Sir William himself was even then meditating 
a step which would have produced, had it been taken, a gen- 
eral Indian war again. This was the purchase and settle- 
ment of an immense tract south of the Ohio river, where an 
independent colony was to be formed. How early this plan 
was conceived we do not learn, but from Franklin's letters, 
we find that it was in contemplation in the spring of 1766. f 
At this time Franklin was in London, and was written to by 
his son. Governor Franklin, of New Jersey, with regard to 
the proposed colony. The plan seems to have been, to buy 
of the Six jVations the lands south of the Ohio, a purchase 
which it was not doubted Sir William might make, and then 
to procure from the King a grant of as much territory as the 
Company, which it was intended to form, would require. Gov- 
ernor Franklin, accordingly, forwarded to his father an appli- 
cation for a grant, together with a letter from Sir William, 
recommending the plan to the ministry ; all of which was 
duly communicated to the proper department. But at that 
time there were various interests bearing upon this plan of 
Franklin- The old Ohio Company was still suing, through 
its agent. Colonel George Mercer, for a perfection of the 
original grant. The soldiers claiming under Dinwiddle's 
proclamation had their tale of rights and grievances. Indi- 
viduals, to whom grants had been made by Virginia, wished 
them completed. General Lyman, from Connecticut, we 
believe, was soliciting a new grant similar to that now asked 
by Franklin ; and the ministers themselves were divided as to 
the policy and propriety of establishing any settlements so 
far in the interior — Shelburne being in favor of the new colo- 
ny — Hillsborough opposed to it. 

The Company was organized, however, and the nominally 
leading man therein being Mr. Thomas Walpole, a London 
banker of eminence, it was known as the Walpole Company. 
Franklin continued privately to make friends among the min- 

*Plain Facts, p. 60- 

■fSparks' Franklin, vol. iv. p. 233, et. seq. 



128 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. 1768. 

istry, and to press upon them the policy of making large set- 
tlements in the West; and, as the old way of managing the 
Indians by superintendents was just then in bad odor, in con- 
sequence of the expense attending it, the cabinet council so 
far approved the new plan as to present it for examination to 
the Board of Trade, with members of which Franklin had also 
been privately conversing. 

This was in the autumn of 1767. But, before any conclu- 
sion was come to, it was necessary to arrange definitely that 
boundary line, which had been vaguely talked of in 1765, 
and with respect to which Sir William Johnson had written 
to the ministry, who had mislaid his letters, and given him no 
instructions. The necessity of arranging this boundary was 
also kept in the mind by the continued and growing irritation 
of the Indians, who found themselves invaded from every 
side. This irritation became so great during the autumn of 
1767, that Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania on 
the subject. The Governor communicated his letter to the 
Assembly on the 5th of January, 1768, and representations 
were at once sent to England, expressing the necessity of 
having the Indian line fixed. Franklin, the father, ail this 
time, was urging the same necessity upon the ministers in 
England; and about Christmas of 1767, Sir William's letters 
on the subject having been found, orders were sent him to 
complete the proposed purchase from the Six Nations, and 
settle all differences. But the project for a colony was for the 
time dropped, a new administration coming in which was not 
that way disposed. 

Sir William Johnson having received, early in the spring, 
the orders from England relative to a new treaty with the 
Indians, at once took steps to secure a full attendance.* No- 
tice was given to the various colonial governments, to the 
Six Nations, the Dclavvares, and the Shawanesc, and a con- 
gress was appointed to meet at Fort Stanwix during the fol- 
lowing October, (1768). It met upon the 24th of that month, 
and was attended by representatives from New Jersey, Vir- 
ginia, and Pennsylvania; by Sir William and his deputies; by 
the agents of those traders who had suffered in the war of 
1763; and by deputies from all the Six Nations, the Dela- 

*For an account of this long-lost treaty seo Plain Facts, pp. 05 — 101, or Butler's Ken- 
tucky, 2nd edition, pp. 472—488. 



1768. Claims of the Iroquois. 129 

wares and the Shawanese. The first point to be settled was 
the boundary line which was to determine the Indian lands of 
the West from that time forward; and this line the Indians, 
upon the 1st of November, stated should begin on the Ohio, 
at the mouth of the Cherokee (or Tennessee) river ; thence 
go up the Ohio and Allegheny to Kittaning ; thence across to 
the Susquehanna, Slc; whereby the whole country south of 
the Ohio and Allegheny, to which the Six Nations had any claim, 
was transferred to the British. One deed for a part of this 
land, was made on the 3d of November to William Trent, at- 
torney for twenty-two traders, whose goods had been destroy- 
ed by the Indians in 1763. The tract conveyed by this was 
between the Kanawha and Monongahela, and was by the 
traders named Indiana. Two days afterwards a deed for the 
remaining western lands was made to the King, and the price 
agreed on paid down.* These deeds were made upon the 
express agreement that no claim should ever be based upon 
previous treaties, those of Lancaster, Logstown, &c.; and 
they were signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations, for them- 
selves, their allies and dependents, the Shawanese, Dela- 
wares, Mingoes of Ohio, and others ; but the Shawanese and 
Delaware deputies present did not sign them. 

[On the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in a great measure, rests the 
title by purchase to Kentucky, Western Virginia, and Western 
Pennsylvania, and the authority of the Six Nations to sell this 
country rests on their claim by conquest.] 

But besides the claim of the Iroquois and the north-west 
Indians to Kentucky, it was also claimed by the Cherokees ; 
and it is worthy of remembrance that the treaty of Lochabar, 
made in October, 1770, two years after the Stanwix treaty, 
recognized a title in the southern Indians to all the country 
west of a line drawn from a point six miles east of Big or 
Long Island in Holston river, to the mouth of the Great Kana- 
wha ;t although, as we have just stated, their rights to all the 
lands north and east of the Kentucky river was purchased by 
Colonel Donaldson, either for the king, Virginia, or himself — 
it is impossible to say which. J 

*There were also given two deeds of lands in the interior of Pennsylvania, one to 
Croghan, and the other to the proprietaries of that colony. 
•fButler, 2nd ed. Introduction, li. ■ 
J Hall's Sketches, ii. 248. 



130 Land Companies in ike West. 1770. 

But the grant of the great northern confederacy was made. 
The white man could now quiet his conscience when driving 
the native from his forest home, and feel sure that an army 
would back his pretensions. A new company w^as at once 
organized in Virginia, called the "Mississippi Company," and 
a petition sent to the king for two millions and a half of 
acres in the West. Among the signers of this were Francis 
Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington and 
Arthur Lee. The gentleman last named was the agent for 
the petitioners in England. This application was referred to 
the Board of Trade on the 9th of March, 1769, and after that 
we hear nothing of it.* 

The Board of Trade, however, was again called on to re- 
port upon the application of the Walpole Company, and 
Lord Hillsborough, the President, reported against it. This 
called out Franklin's celebrated "Ohio Settlement," a paper 
written with so much ability, that the King's Council put by 
the official report, and granted the petition, a step which 
mortified the noble lord so much that he resigned his official 
station. f The petition now needed only the royal sanction, 
which was not given until August 14th, 1772; but in 1770, 
the Ohio Company was merged in Walpole's, and the claims 
of the soldiers of 1756 being acknowledged both by the new 
Company and by government, all claims w^ere quieted. No- 
thing was ever done, however, under the grant to Walpole, 
the Revolution soon coming upon America. J After the Revo- 
lution, Mr. Walpole and his associates petitioned Congress 
respecting their lands, called by them "Yandalia," but could 
get no help from that body. What was finally done by Vir- 
ginia with the claims of this and other companies, we do not 
find written, but presume their lands were all looked on as 
forfeited. 

During the ten years in which Franklin, Pownall, and their 
friends were trying to get the great western land company 
into operation, actual settlers were crossing the mountains all 
too rapidly; for the Ohio Indians "viewed the settlements 
with an uneasy and jealous eye," and "did not scruple to say, 
that they must be compensated for their right, if people set- 

• Plain Facts, p. 69. — Butler's Kentucky, 475. 

t Sparks' Franklin, vol. 4, p. 392. 

% Sparks' Washington, vol. ii, p. 4S3, et seq. — Plain Facts, p. 149. 



1773. Lands of Washington. 131 

tied thereon, notwithstanding the cession by the Six Nations."* 
It has been said, also, that Lord Dunmore, then Governor of 
Virginia, authorized surveys and settlements on the western 
lands, notwithstanding the proclamation of 1763; but Mr. 
Sparks gives us a letter from him, in which this is expressly 
denied. f However, surveys did go down even to the Falls of 
the Ohio, and the whole region south of the Ohio was filling 
with M'hite men. 

Among the foremost speculators in western lands at that 
time was George Washington. He had always regarded the 
proclamation of 1763 as a mere temporary expedient to quiet 
the savages, and being better acquainted with the value of 
western lands than most of those who could command means, 
he early began to buy beyond the mountains. His agent in 
selecting lands was Col. Crawford, afterwards burnt by the 
Ohio Indians. In September, 1767, we find Washington 
writing to Crawford on this subject, and looking forward to 
the occupation of the western territory; in 1770 he crossed 
the mountains, going down the Ohio to the mouth of the great 
Kanawha; and in 1773, being entitled, under the King's pro- 
clamation of 1763, (which gave a bounty to officers and 
soldiers who had served in the French war,) to ten thousand 
acres of land, he became deeply interested in the country be- 
yond the mountains, and had some correspondence respecting 
the importation of settlers from Europe. Indeed, had not the 
Revolutionary war been just then on the eve of breaking out, 
Washington would, in all probability, have become the lead- 
ing settler of the West, and all our history, perhaps, have been 
changed. J 

But while in England, and along the Atlantic, men were 
talking of peopling the West south of the river Ohio, a few 
obscure individuals, unknown to Walpole, to Franklin, and to 
Washington, were taking those steps which actually resulted 
in its settlement; and to these we next turn. 

* Washington's "Journal to the West, in 1770." Sparks' 'Washington, vol. ii. p. 531. 

^Ibid, p. 37S. 

JSparks' Washington, vol. ii. pp. 346-7. He had patents for 32,373 acres; 915" on the 
Ohio, between the Kanawhas, with a river front of 13 1-2 miles : 23,216 acres on the great 
Kanhawa, with a river front of forty miles. Besides these lands, he owned, fifteen miles 
below Wheeling, 587 acres, with a front of two and a half miles. He considered the land 
worth $3 33 per acre. — Sparks' Washington, xii, 261, 317. 



132 Dr. Walker's Expedition. 1758. 

Notwithstanding the fact that so much attention had been 
given to the settlement of the \'C'est, even before the French 
war, it does not appear that any Europeans, either French or 
Engli^sh, had, at the time the treaty of Fort Stanwix was made, 
thoroughly examined that most lovely region near the Ken- 
tucky river, which is the finest portion, perhaps, of the whole 
Ohio valley. This may be accounted for by the non-residence 
of the Indians in that district; a district which they retained 
as a hunting ground. Owing to this, the traders, who were 
the first explorers, were led to direct their steps northward, 
up the Miami and Scioto valleys, and w^ere quite familiar with 
the country between the Ohio and the Lakes, at a period when 
the interior of the territory south of the river Avas wholly un- 
known to them. While, therefore, the impression which many 
have had, that the entire valley was unknow'n to the English 
colonists before Boone's time, is clearly erroneous, it is equal- 
ly clear that the centre of Kentucky, which he and his com- 
rades explored during their first visit, had not before that 
time, been examined by the whites to any considerable ex- 
tent. 

[Here it is necessary to call the attention of the reader to 
another series of events, that opened the way for the ex- 
ploration and settlement of Kentucky and Tennessee. 

About the year 1758, Dr. Thomas Walker, from Albemarle 
count}^ Va., who had been previously employed as an agent 
among the Cherokecs on the Holston river, from 1750, was 
app(jintcd commissioner to take certain Cherokee chiefs to 
England. Dr. Walker had explored the mountain vallies of 
Southwestern Virginia and East Tennessee. While in Eng- 
land, he organized a company to settle the wild lands in 
Western Virginia and Carolina, of which the Duke of Cum- 
berland was patron. lie returned to America in the capacity 
of general agent. Dr. W^alkcr subsequently explored the 
country; gave the name of his patron to Cxunbcrland river, 
and the range of mountains that give origin to the head 
branches. He also explored the upper parts of the Kentucky 
river, and gave to it the name of Louisa, in honor of the 
Duchess of Cumberland, which name it bore for some years. 
He was at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and had no small influ- 
ence in the purchase of Western Virginia and Eastern Ken- 
tucky from the Six Nations. 



1759. Colonels Martin and Smith. 133 

In March, 1769, Col. Joseph Martin, of Albemarle county, and 
twenty other persons, started to form a settlement in Powell's 
valley ; having received a written pledge from Dr. Walker, 
of a grant of 21,000 acres of land, on condition that they 
reached the valley and made a settlement, before another 
company (commanded by Messrs. Kirkleys) gained possession. 
The party reached the valley on the 1st of April, after great 
effort and suffering, and commenced their improvements on 
the 3d, and thus gained each their thousand acres. The val- 
ley, the river, and the adjacent mountain, were named from 
a hunter who first explored the country and marked his name 
on a tree. 

Colonel Joseph Martin was subsequently an agent among 
the Cherokees, and the father of the late Colonel William 
Martin, of Smith county, Tennessee, in whose possession we 
found papers, and a letter from his father, dated May 9, 1769, 
containing the foregoing facts. The explorations of Dr. 
Walker, and Col. Martin, and the settlement of Powell's val- 
ley, prepared the way for further progress westward.]* 

The next explorer of Kentucky and Tennessee, was Col. 
James Smith. Mr. Smith had been taken prisoner by the 
Indians, near Bedford, Pa., in 1755, and was with them four 
and a half years. In 1764, he was a lieutenant in General 
Bouquet's campaign against the Indians, and a colonel in the 
continental service in 1778. 

During the summer of 1766, with four white men and a 
mulatto slave, he made an exploration across the mountains 
to the Cumberland, and then to the Tennessee rivers, to ex- 
amine the country in view of future settlements. 

Stone's river, a branch of the Cumberland, was so named 
from Mr. Uriah Stone, one of the party. They explored the 
country on each of the rivers, until they reached the mouth 
of the Tennessee, where Paducah now stands. Col. Smith, 
having stuck a piece of cane in his foot, was unable to travel, 
his companions left him and the boy to aid him, and pro- 
ceeded to the Illinois country. He reached Carolina on his 

*Mr. Butler (His/ory of Kentucky, it. 18,) meHtions Dr. Walker's explorations as in 
1747. Stipp's Miscellany, p. 9, says 1750; which date is confirmed by facts in Holmes' 
Annals, ii, 304, note. Marshall, vol i. p. 7, says 1753. In the London edition of Wash- 
ington's Journal, jmnted in 1754, there is a map on which is marked 'Walker's Settle- 
ment, 1750," upon the Cumberland river. There is no discrepancy in these dates, for 
Dr. Walker was engaged several years in his explorations and Indian agency. — Ed. 



134 John. Finkys Expedition. 1767. 

return, in October, 1767, having been eleven months in the 
wilderness In a few days he reached Conecocheague valley, 
where his family resided.* 

The next persons who entered this region Mere traders ; 
coming, not from Virginia and Pennsylvania by the river, but 
from North Carolina by the Cumberland Gap. These traders 
probably sought, in the first instance, the Cherokees and other 
southern Indians, with whom they had dealings from a very 
early period ; but appear afterward to have journeyed north- 
ward upon what was called the Warrior's road, an Indian path 
leading from the Cumberland ford along the broken country, 
lying upon the eastern branch of the Kentucky river, and so 
across the Licking toward the mouth of the Scioto. f This 
path formed the line of communication between the northern 
and southern Indians ; and somewhere along its course, John 
Finley, doubtless in company \vith others, was engaged, in 
1767, in trading with the red men ; we presume, with those 
from north of the Ohio, who met him there with the skins 
procured during their hunting expedition in that central and 
choice region. Upon Finley's return to North Carolina, he 
met with Daniel Boone, to whom he described the country he 
had visited. 

Daniel Boone was born in Backs county. Pa., in the month 
of February, 1735, being the sixth of eleven children. His 
father moved to Berks county when Daniel was a small boy, 
where, in a frontier settlement, he attended school, and where 
in boyhood he received those impressions that were so fully 
displayed in after life. From childhood, he delighted to range 
the woods, watch the wild animals, and contemplate the 
beauties of uncultivated nature. In woodcraft, his education 
was complete. No Indian could poise the rifle, find his way 
through the trackless forest, or hunt the wild game better than 
Daniel Boone. 

Few men ever possessed that combination of boldness, cau- 
tion, hardihood, strength, patience, perseverance and love of 
solitude that marked his character. With these qualities 
he was kind-hearted, humane, good-tempered, and devoid of 
malice. He never manifested the temper of the misanthrope 

^Smith's Life, in "Incidenti of Border Life," p. C4. llaywood's History of Tennessee, 
page 35. 
I Soo map in Filson's Kentucky. 



1769. Colonel Daniel Boone. 135 

or evinced any dissatisfaction with social or domestic life. 
He had a natural sense of justice and equity between man 
and man, and felt, through his whole life, repugnance to the 
technical forms of law, and the conventional regulations of 
society and of government, unless they were in strict accor- 
dance with his instinctive sense of right. 
' When Daniel Boone was in the 18th year of his age, his 
father removed from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and 
settled on the Yadkin, in the northwestern part of that State. 
Here he married, and for several years, labored on a farm ; 
hunting at the proper season. About 1762, he was leader of 
a company of hunters from the Yadkin, who ranged through 
the vallies on the waters of the Holston, in the southwestern 
part of Virginia. In 1764, we find him, with another compa- 
ny of hunters, on the Rock Castle, a branch of Cumberland 
river, within the present boundaries of Kentucky, employed, 
as he stated, by a party of land speculators to ascertain and 
report concerning the country in that quarter.* 

The oppression of the governors of the colony, and the 
members of the Council and of the Assembly, who were 
English or Scotch adventurers, produced great dissatisfaction 
with the laboring classes, and drove many to seek their for- 
tunes in the wilds of the West. At the same time Richard 
Henderson, the Harts and others, were projecting a purchase 
of the fertile lands of the West, and encouraged the hunters 
to explore the country. 

On the return of Finley, as already stated, arrano-ements 
were made for an exploring party to examine the rich vales 
of the Kentucky, of which Boone was the leader; and he alone 
was in the confidence of the speculators. His companions 
were John Finley, John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Mon- 
cey, and WilUam Cool. They left the Y^adkin settlement, and 
Boone his family, on the first of May, and after much fatigue 
and exposure to severe rains, reached the waters of Red river 
one of the main branches of the Kentucky, on the 7ih of June. 
In this region the party reconnoitered the countr}-, and hunt- 
ed, until December. At that period, the explorers divided 
themselves into parties, that they might have a wider range of 
observation. Boone had for his companion, Mr. Stewart. ■ Of 

^Haywood's History of Tennessee, pp. 32, 35. 



136 Explorers in the West. 1771. 

Finlay, and the rest of the party, we hear nothing more. Of 
their adventures history is silent. 

Boone and Stewart were soon taken by a party of Indians, 
from whom they made their escape after several days' deten- 
tion. Early in January, 1770, Squire Boone, a brother of 
Daniel, and another adventurer, arrived from North Carolina, 
with supplies of ammunition, and intelligence from his famil}'. 
Shortly after this event, Stewart, while hunting, was killed by 
the Indians, and the man who came with Squire Boone got 
lost in the woods and perished. The two brothers, thus left 
alone, pursued their hunting along the banks of the main 
Kentucky river. 

When spring opened Squire returned to the Yadkin for sup- 
plies, while Daniel explored the country along Salt and Green 
rivers. On the last of July Squire returned, and they enga- 
ged in exploring the country on the waters of Cumberland 
river, and hunting in that region until March, 1771. They 
then returned by Kentucky river, and the Cumberland Gap, to 
the settlements on the Yadkin. 

During the same period, another exploring and hunting 
party of about twenty men, left North Carolina and Western 
Virginia, for the country of Tennessee. They passed through 
Cumberland Gap into what is now called Wayne county, 
Kentucky, and, subsequently, moved in a southwestern direc- 
tion, along the waters of Roaring river and Caney fork, and 
returned in April, 1770, after an absence often months. 

The same year another party often hunters built two boats 
and two trapping canoes, loaded them with peltry, venison, 
bears' meat and oil, and made a voyage down the Cumber- 
land, Ohio and JNIississippi rivers, to Natchez, where they dis- 
posed of their cargo. 

In 1771, Casper Mansco, who had twice visited the valley 
of the Cumberland, came out again in company with several 
other persons. They traversed the country along the Cum- 
berland river to the region north of Nashville, and into the 
"barrens" of Kentucky. From the period of their absence 
they were called the "Long-hunters."* These several explo- 
rations excited the attention of multitudes in the colonies 

* for authorities and further events in Ji.tail, the reader is referred to Haywood's Histo- 
ry of Tcnneasce: Butler's History of the Commomceallh of Kentucky; and "Life of Daniel 
Boone," by the editor, in Dr. Sparks' American Biography, vol. xxiii. 



1773. Emigration to Kentucky. 137 

south of the Potomac, and turned their thoughts to a home in 
the "Far West."] 

During the same eventful period, (1770), there came into 
Western Virginia, no less noted a person than George Wash- 
ington. His attention, as we have before said, had been 
turned to the lands along the Ohio, at a very early period ; he 
had himself large claims, as well as far-reaching plans of set- 
tlement, and he wished with his own eyes, to examine the 
Western lands, especially those about the mouth of the Ka- 
nawha. From the journal of his expedition, published by 
Mr. Sparks, in the Appendix to the second volume of his 
Washington papers, we learn some valuable facts in refer- 
ence to the position of affairs in the Ohio valley at that time. 
We learn, for instance, that the Virginians were rapidly sur- 
veying and settling the lands south of the river as far down 
as the Kanawhas ; and that the Indians, notwithstanding the 
treaty of Fort Stanwix, were jealous and angry at this con- 
stant invasion of their hunting-grounds. 

This jealousy and anger were not suffered to cool during 
the years next succeeding, and when Thomas Bullitt and his 
party descended the Ohio in the summer of 1773, he found, as 
related above, that no settlements would be tolerated south of 
the river, unless the Indian hunting-grounds were left undis- 
turbed. To leave them undisturbed was, however, no part of 
the plan of these white men. This very party, which Bullitt 
led, and in which were the two McAfees, Hancock, Taylor, 
Drennon and others, separated, and while part went up the 
Kentucky river, explored the banks, and made important 
surveys, including the valley in which Frankfort stands, the 
remainder went on to the Falls, and laid out, on behalf of 
John Campbell and John Connolly, the plat of Louisville. All 
this took place in the summer of 1773 ; and in the autumn of 
that year, or early the next, John Floyd, the deputy of Colonel 
William Preston, the surveyor of Fincastle county, Virginia, 
in which it was claimed that Kentucky was comprehended, 
also crossed the mountains; while General Thompson, of 
Pennsylvania, made surveys upon the north fork of the Lick- 
ing.* Nor did the projects of the English colonists stop with 

'■Marshall, i 11. — Butler, second edition, 20. American State Papers, xvi. 5S3. Qen.. 

Thompson was surveying for the Pennsylvania soldiers under the proclamation of 1763, 
and a permit from the Council of Virginia in 1774. 

9 



138 Boone starts for Kentucky. 1773. 

the settlement of Kentucky. In 1773, General Lyman, with 
a number of military adventurers, went to Natchez, and laid 
out several townships in that vicinity ; to which point emi- 
gration set so strongly, that we are told, four hundred families 
passed down the Ohio, on their way thither, during six weeks 
of the summer of that year.* 

[Anxious as was Boone to remove his family to the fertile 
region of Kentucky, it was not until 1773, that he sold his farm 
on the Yadkin, and, with five other families, took up the hne of 
march westward. The company started on the 25th of Sep- 
tember, and were joined by others in Powell's valley, making 
the number of forty men, besides women and children. As 
they approached the last mountain barrier, on the 16th of 
October, seven young men, who had charge of the cattle, 
being five or six miles in the rear, were attacked by a party of 
Indians. Six were slain, amongst whom was Boone's eldest 
son James, and the seventh, though wounded, made his 
escape. The cattle were dispersed in the woods. 

This calamity so disheartened the emigrants, that they gave 
up the expedition and returned to Clinch river.] 

•Holmes' Annals, ii. 183; — from original MSS. For a history of Natchez, see Western 
Messenger, September and November, 1838 : it is by Mann Butler. See also Ellicott'g 
Journal, (.Philadelphia, 1803,) p. 129, Ac 



CHAPTER V. 

ANNALS OF 1774 AND 1775. 

So ttlement of Wheeling — ^Connolly seizes Fort Pitt — Murder of Logan's Family — Dun- 
more's War — Battle of Point Pleasant — Transylvania Land Company — Settlement of 
Kentucky — First Political Convention in the West — Indians in Alliance with the 
British. 

For a time the settlement of Kentucky and the West was 
delayed ; for though James Harrod, in the spring or early 
summer of 1774, penetrated the wilderness, and built his 
cabin, (the first log-hut reared in the valley of the Kentucky,) 
where the town which bears his name now stands, he could 
not long stay there ; the sounds of coming war reached even 
his solitude, and forced him to rejoin his companions, and aid 
in repelling the infuriated savages. Notvvithstandino- the 
treaty of Fort Stanwix, the western Indians, as we have seen 
were in no degree disposed to yield their lands without a 
struggle. Wide-spread dissatisfaction prevailed among the 
Shawanese and Mingoes, which was fostered probably by the 
French traders who still visited the tribes of the north-west. 
Evidence of the feeling which prevailed, is given by Washing- 
ton in his Journal of 1770, and has been already referred to. 
And from that time forward almost every event was calculated 
still more to excite and embitter the children of the forest. In 
1770, Ebenezer, Silas and Jonathan Zane, settled at Wheeling • 
during that year the Boones, as we have related, were exploring 
the interior of Kentucky ; and after them came the McAfees 
Bullitt, Floyd, Hancock, Taylor, and their companions. The 
savages saw their best grounds occupied or threatened with 
occupation; but still they remembered the war of 1763 and 
the terrible power of Britain, and the oldest and wisest of the 
sufferers were disposed rather to submit to what seemed inevi- 
table than to throw themselves away in a vain effort to with- 
stand the whites. Hopeless hatred toward the invaders filled 
the breasts of the natives, therefore, at the period immediately 
preceding the war of 1774; a hatred needing only a few acts 
of violence to kindle it into rage and thirst for human blood. 



140 Proclmnation of Dr. Connolly. 1774. 

And such acts were not wanting; in addition to the murder of 
several single Indians by the frontier men, — in 1772, five fami- 
lies of the natives on the Little Kanawha, were killed, in 
revenge for the death of a white family on Gauley River, 
although no evidence existed to prove who had committed the 
last-named outrage.* And when 1774 came, a series of 
events, of which we can present but a faint outline, led to 
excessive exasperation on both sides. Pennsylvania and 
Virginia laid equal claim to Pittsburgh and the adjoining 
country. In the war of 1754, doubt had existed as to which 
colony the fork of the Ohio w^as situated in, and the Old 
Dominion having been forward in the defence of the contested 
territory, while her northernneighbor had been very backward 
in doing anything in its favor, the Virginians felt a certain 
claim upon the "Key of the West." This feeling showed 
itself before 1763, and by 1773 appears to have attained a 
very decided character. Early in 1774, Lord Dunmore, 
prompted very probably by Colonel Croghan, and his nephew, 
Dr. John Connolly, who had lived at Fort Pitt, and was an in- 
triguing and ambitious man, determined, by strong measures, 
to assert the claims of Virginia upon Pittsburgh audits vicinity, 
and dispatched Connolly, with a captain's commission, and 
with power to take possession of the country upon the Monon- . 
gahela, in the name of the king. The Doctor issued his 
proclamation to the people, in the neighborhood of Redstone 
and Pittsburgh, calling upon them to meet on the 24th or 25th 
of January, 1774, in order to be embodied as Virginia militia. 
Arthur St. Clair, who then represented the Proprietors of 
Pennsylvania in the West, was at Pittsburgh at the time, and 
arrested Connolly before the meeting took place. The people 
who had seen the proclamation, however, came together, and 
though they were dispersed without attempting any outbreak 
in favor of the Virginian side of the dispute, which it was very 
much feared they would do, — they did not break up without 
drunkenness and riot, and among other things^/rrZ their guns 
at the town occupied by friendly Indians across the river, hurting 
no one, but exciting the fear and suspicion of the red men. 

Connolly, soon after, was for a short time released by the 
sheriff, upon the promise to return to the law's custody, which 

•Withers' Border "Warfnrf, 106. Monette's History of the Misaisiippi Valley, toI. .t 
page 369. 



1774. His Arbitrary Measures. 141 

promise he broke however, and having collected a band of 
followers, on the 28th of March, came again to Pittsburgh, 
still asserting the claim of Virginia to the government. Then 
commenced a series of contests, outrages and complaints, 
which were too extensive and complicated to be described 
within our limited space. The end of the matter was this, that 
Connolly, in Lord Dunmore's name, and by his authority, took 
and kept possessionof Fort Pitt; and as it had been dismantled 
and nearly destroyed, by royal orders, rebuilt it, and named it 
Fort Dunmore. Meantime, in a most unjustifiable and tyranni- 
cal manner, he arrested both private men and magistrates, and 
kept some of them in confinement, until Lord Dunmore ordered 
their release. Knowing that these measures were calculated 
to lead to active and violent measures against himself by the 
Pennsylvanians, he took great precautions, and went to con- 
siderable expense to protect his own party from surprise. 
These expenses, it is not improbable, he feared the Virginia 
General Assembly would object to. although his noble patron 
might allow them ; and it is not impossible that he intentionally 
fostered, as St. Clair distinctly intimated in his letters to the 
Pennsylvania authorities, the growing jealousy between the 
whites and natives, in order to make their quarrels serve as a 
color to his profuse expenditures. At any rate, it appears that 
on the 21st of April, Connolly wrote to the settlers along the 
Ohio, that the Shawanese were not to be trusted, and that they 
(they whites) ought to be prepared to revenge any wrong done 
them. This letter came into the hands of Captain Michael 
Cresap, who was looking up lands near Wheeling, and who 
appears to have possessed the true frontier Indian-hatred. 
Five days before its date, a canoe, belonging to William Butler, 
a leading Pittsburgh trader, had been attacked by three 
Cherokees, and one white man had been killed. This hap- 
pened not far from Wheeling, and became known there of 
course ; while about the same time the report was general 
that the Indians were stealing the traders' horses. When, 
therefore, immediately after Connolly's letter had been circu- 
lated, the news came to that settlement, that some Indians were 
coming down the Ohio in a boat, Cresap, in revenge for the 
murder by the Cherokees, and, as he afterwards said, in obedi- 
ence to the direction of the commandant at Pittsburgh, 
contained in the letter referred to, determined to attack them. 



142 Massacre at Captina. 1774. 

They were, as it chanced, two friendly Indians, who, with two 
whites, had been dispatched by William Butler, when he heard 
that his first messengers were stopped, to attend to his peltries 
down the river, in the Shawanese country.* The project of 
Cresap, (and here we continue in the words of Dr. Dodd- 
ridge,) "was vehemently opposed by Col. Zane, the proprietor 
of the place. He stated to the Captain that the killing of 
those Indians, Avould inevitably bring on a war, in which much 
innocent blood would be shed, and that the act in itself would 
be an atrocious murder, and a disgrace to his name forever. 
His good counsel was lost. The party went up the river. On 
being asked, at their return, what had become of the Indians? 
they coolly answered that "they had fallen overboard into 
the river!" Their canoe, on being examined, was found 
bloody, and pierced with bullets. This was the first blood 
which was shed in this war,* and terrible was the vengeance 
which followed. 

In the evening of the same day, the party hearing that 
there was an encampment of Indians at the mouth of Captina, 
went down the river to the place, attacked the Indians and 
killed several of them. In this affair one of Cresap's party 
was severely wounded. 

The massacre at Captina and that which took place at 
Baker's, about forty miles above Wheeling, a few days after 
that at Captina, were unquestionably the sole causes of the 
war, 1774. The last was perpetrated by thirty-two men, under 
the command of Daniel Greathouse. The whole number 
killed at this place, and on the river opposite to it, was 
twelve, besides several wounded. This horrid massacre 
was effected by a hypocritical stratagem, which reflects 
the deepest dishonor on the memory of those who were 
agents in it. 

The report of the murders committed on the Indians near 
Wheeling, induced a belief that they would immediately 
commence hostilities, and this apprehension furnished the 
pretext for the murder above related. The ostensible object 
for raising the party under Greathouse, was that of defending 
the family of Baker, whose house was opposite to a large 
encampment of Indians, at the mouth of Big Yellow Creek. 
The party were concealed in ambuscade, while their com- 
mander went over the river, under the mask of friendship, to 
the Indian camp, to ascertain their number; while there, an 
Indian woman advised him to return home speedily, saying 

•For the above facts relatiye to Connolly's conduct, Ac., see American Archive.", 
fonrth series, i. 252 to 28S, 435, 774, 459, 467, 470, 484, <tc. It was said that Dun- 
more thanked Cresap for what ho did; American Archives, fonrth series, i. 506; but 
no proof exists, we believe, of his having done so. 

*The murder at Balltown took place in 1772. 



1774. The Affair of Greatlwuse. 143 

that the Indians were drinking, and angry on account of the 
murder of their people down the river, and might do him some 
mischief. On his return to his party he reported that the 
Indians were too strong for an open attack. He returned to 
Baker's and requested him to give any Indians who might 
come over, in the course of the day, as much rum as they 
might call for, and get as many of them drunk as he possibly 
could. The plan succeeded. Several Indian men, with two 
women, came over the river to Baker's, who had previously 
been in the habit of selling rum to the Indians. The men 
drank freely and became intoxicated. In this state they were 
all killed by Greathouse, and a few of his party. I say a few 
of his party, for it is but justice to state, that not more than 
five or six of the whole number had any participation in the 
slaughter at the house. The rest protested against it, as an 
atrocious murder. From their number, being by far the ma- 
jority, they might have prevented the deed ; but alas ! they did 
not. A little Indian girl alone was saved from the slaughter, 
by the humanity of some one of the party, whose name is not 
now known. 

The Indians in the camps, hearing the firing at the house, 
sent a canoe with two men in it to enquire what had happened. 
These two Indians were both shot down, as soon as they landed 
on the beach. A second and larger canoe was then manned 
with a number of Indians in arms ; but in attempting to reach 
the shore, some distance below the house, were received by a 
well directed fire from the party, which killed the greater 
number of them, and compelled the survivors to return. A 
great number of shots were exchanged across the river, but 
without damage to the white party, not one of whom was 
even wounded. The Indian men who were murdered were 
all scalped. 

The woman who gave the friendly advice to the commander 
of the party, when in the Indian camp, was amongst the slain 
at Baker's house. 

The massacres of the Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek, 
comprehended the whole of the family of the famous, but un- 
fortunate Logan.* 

This account by Doddridge is confirmed by the evidence of 
Colonel Zane, whose deposition is given by Jefferson ; but as 
it differs somewhat from that of George Rogers Clark, who 
was also present, we give part of the letter written by the 
last named pioneer relative to the matter, dated June 17, 1798. 

This country was explored in 1773. A resolution was 
formed to make a settlement the spring following, and the 
mouth of the Little Kanawha appointed the place of general 

*See Doddridge's Notes, p. 226. 



144 Colonel Clark's Account. 1774. 

rendezvous, in order to descend the river from thence in a 
body. Early in the spring the Indians had done some mis- 
chief. Reports from their towns were alarming, which deter- 
red many. About eighty or ninety men only arrived at the 
appointed rendezvous, where we lay some days. 

A small party of hunters, that lay about ten miles below us, 
were fired upon by the Indians, whom the hunters beat back, 
and returned to camp. This and many other circumstances 
led us to believe, that the Indians were determined on war. 
The M-hole party was enrolled and determined to execute 
their project of forming a settlement in Kentucky, as we had 
every necessary store that could be thought of. An Indian 
town called the Horsehead Bottom, on the Scioto and near its 
mouth, lay nearly in our way. The determination was to 
cross the country and surprise it. Who was to command? 
was the question. There were but few among us that had 
experience in Indian warfare, and they were such as we did 
not choose to be commanded by. We knew of Capt. Cresap 
being on the river about fifteen miles above us, with some 
hands, settling a plantation ; and that he had concluded to fol- 
low us to Kentucky as soon as he had fixed there his people. 
We also knew that he had been experienced in a former war. 
He was proposed ; and it was unanimously agreed to send for 
him to command the party. Messengers were dispatched, 
and in half an hour returned with Cresap. He had heard of 
our resolution by some of his hunters, that had fallen in with 
ours, and had set out to come to us. 

We now thought our army, as we called it, complete, and 
the destruction of the Indians sure. A council was called, and, 
to our astonishment, our intended Commander-in-chief was 
the person that dissuaded us from the enterprise. He said that 
appearances were very suspicious, but there was no certainty 
of a war. That if we made the attempt proposed, he had no 
doubt of our success, but a war would, at any rate, be the re- 
sult, and that we should be blamed for it, and perhaps justly. 
But if we were determined to proceed, he would lay aside all 
considerations, send to his camp for his people, and share our 
fortunes. 

He was then asked what he would advise. His answer 
was, that we should return to Wheeling, as a convenient post, 
to hear what was going forward. That a few weeks would 
determine. As it was early in the spring, if we found the In- 
dians were not disposed for war, we should have full time to 
return and make our estfiblishmcnt in Kentucky. This was 
adopted; and in two hours the whole were under way. As 
we ascended the river, we met Kill-buck, an Indian chief, with 
a small party. We had a long conference with him, but re- 
ceived little satisfaction as to the disposition of the Indians. 
It was observed that Cresap did not come to this conference, 



1774. Colonel Clark's Account. 145 

but kept on the opposite side of the river. He said that he 
was afraid to trust himself with the Indians. Th^it Kill-buck 
had frequently attempted to waylay his father, to kill him. 
That if he crossed the river, perhaps his fortitude might fail 
him, and that he might put Kill-buck to death. On our arri- 
val at Wheeling, (the country being pretty well settled there- 
abouts,) the whole of the inhabitants appeared to be alarmed. 
They docked to our camp from every direction ; and all 
we could say could not keep them from under our wings. 
We oftered to cover their neighborhood with scouts, until 
further information, if they would return to their plantations ; 
but nothing would prevail. By this time we had got to be a 
formidable party. All the hunters, men without families, 
etc., in that quarter, had joined our party. 

Our arrival at Wheeling was soon known at Pittsburgh. 
The whole of that country, at that time, being under the 
jurisdiction of Virginia, Dr. Connolly had been appointed by 
Dunmore Captain Commandant of the District which was 
called Waugusta. He, learning of us, sent a message address- 
ed to the party, letting us know that a war was to be appre- 
hended; and requesting that we would keep our position, for 
a few days, as messages had been sent to the Indians, and a 
few days would determine the doubt. The answer he got, 
was, that we had no inclination to quit our quarters for some 
time. That during our stay we should be careful that the 
enemy did not harrass the neighborhood that we lay in. But 
before this answer could reach Pittsburgh, he sent a second 
express, addressed to Capt. Cresap, as the most influential 
man amongst us ; informing him that the messenges had re- 
turned from the Indians, that war was inevitable, and begging 
him to use his influence with the party, to get them to cover 
the country by scouts until the inhabitants could fortify them- 
selves. The reception of this letter was the epoch of open 
hostilities with the Indians. A new post was planted, a 
council was called, and the letter read by Cresap, all the 
Indian traders being summoned on so important an occasion. 
Action was had, and war declared in the most solemn man- 
ner ; and the same evening two scalps were brought into the 
camp. 

The next day some canoes of Indians were discovered on 
the river, keeping the advantage of an island to cover them- 
selves from our view. They were chased fifteen miles down 
the river, and driven ashore. A battle ensued ; a few were 
wounded on both sides; one Indian only taken prisoner. On 
examining their canoes, we found a considerable quantity of 
ammunition and other warlike stores. On our return to camp, 
a resolution was adopted to march the next day, and attack 
Logan's camp on the Ohio, about thirty miles above us. We 
did march about five miles, and then halted to take some re- 



146 Murder of Logan's Family. 1774. 

freshtnents. Here the impropriety of executing the projected 
enterprise was argued. The conversation was brought for- 
ward by Cresap himself. It was generally agreed that those 
Indians had no hostile intentions — as they were hunting, and 
their party were composed of men, women, and children, with 
all their stuff with them. This we knew ; as I myself and 
others present had been in their camp about four weeks past, 
on our descending the river Irom Pittsburgh. In short, every 
person seemed to detest the resolution we had set out with. 
We returned in the evening, decamped, and took the road to 
Redstone. 

It was two days after this that Logan's Family were killed. 
And from the manner in which it was done, it was viewed as 
a horrid murder. From Logan's hearing of Cresap being at 
the head of this party on the river, it is no wonder that he sup- 
posed he had a hand in the destruction of his family.* 

In relation to the murders by Greathouse, there is also a 
variance in the testimon}'. Henry Jolly, who was near by, 
and whose statement is published in an article by Dr. Hil- 
dreth, in Silliman's Journal for January, 1837, makes no men- 
tion of the visit of Greathouse to the Indian camp, but says 
that five men and one woman with a child came from the 
camp across to Baker's, that three of the five were made 
drunk, and that the whites finding the other two would not 
drink, persuaded them to fire at a mark, and when their guns 
were empty, shot them down ; this done, they next murdered 
the woman, and tomahawked the three who were intoxicated. 
The Indians who had not crossed the Ohio, ascertaining what 
had taken place, attempted to escape by descending the river, 
and having passed Wheeling unobserved, landed at Pipe 
Creek, and it was then, according to Jolly, that Cresap's attack 
took place ; he killed only one Indian. f But whatever may 
have been the precise facts in relation to the murder of Lo- 
gan's family, they were at any rate of such a nature as to 
make all concerned, feel sure of an Indian war ; and while 
those upon the frontier gathered hastily into the fortresses,J 
an express was sent to Williamsburgh to inform the Governor 
of the necessity of instant preparation. The Earl of Dun- 
more at once took the needful steps to organize forces ; and 

•Louisville Literary News Letter, quoted in Hesperian, February, 1839. p. 309. 

fSee Am. Pioneer, i. 12 to 24. Am. Archives, 4th Series, i. 467. Sco also Border War- 
fare, 112, note, where the discrepancies of evidence are stated, also Jacob's Life of Cresap. 

tBorder Warfare, 114. 



1774. Expedition against the Indians. 147 

meanwhile in June, sent Daniel Boone and Michael Stoner to 
conduct into the settlements the surveyors and others who 
were lingering upon the banks of the Kentucky and Elkhorn, 
a duty which was ably and quickly performed. The unfortu- 
nate traders among the Indians, however, could not thus be 
rescued from the dangers which beset them. Some of them 
fell the first victims to the vengeance of the natives. One, 
near the town of White-Eyes, the Peace Chief of the Dela- 
wares, was murdered, cut to pieces, and the fragments of his 
body hung upon the bushes ; the kindly chief gathered them 
together and buried them ; the hatred of the murderers, how- 
ever, led them to disinter and disperse the remains of their 
victim anew, but the kindness of the Delaware was as perse- 
vering as the hatred of his brethren, and again he collected 
the scattered limbs and in a secret place hid thtm.* 

[The question, "who killed Logan's family," has been inves- 
tigated, and every source of evidence exhausted. It is now 
certain the murder was not committed by Cresap and his par- 
ty, though from circumstances Logan thought so. Those who 
desire to examine the subject further, are referred to the 
"American Pioneer," vol. i. pp. 7 — 24.] 

It being, under the circumstances, deemed advisable, by the 
Virginians, to assume the offensive, as soon as it could be 
done, an army was gathered at Wheeling, which, some time 
in July, under Colonel McDonald, descended the Ohio to 
the mouth of Captina Creek, or as some say, Fish Creek, 
where it w^as proposed to march against the Indian town of 
Wappatomica, on the Muskingum. The march was success- 
fully accomplished, and the Indians having been frustrated in 
an expected surprise of the invaders, sued for peace, and gave 
five of their chiefs as hostages. Two of them were set free, 
however, by Colonel McDonald, for the avowed purpose of 
calling the heads of the tribes together to ratify the treaty 
which was to put an end to warfare ; but it being found that 
the natives were merely attempting to gain time and gather 
forces, the Virginians proceeded to destroy their towns and 
crops, and then retreated, carrying three of their chiefs with 
them as prisoners to Williamsburg. f But this invasion did 
nothing toward intimidating the red men. 

*Heckewelder's Narrative, 132. 

•Border Warfare, 115. Doddridge, 241. Am. Archives, 4th Series, 1. 722. 



148 Arbitrary Acts of Dr. Connolhj. 1774. 

The Delawares were anxious for peace ; Sir William John- 
son sent out to all his copper-colored flock, orders to keep 
still;* and even the Shawanese were prevailed on by their 
wiser leader, Cornstalk, to do all they could to preserve friendly 
relations :f indeed they went so far as to secure some wander- 
ing traders from the vengeance of the Mingoes, whose rela- 
tives had been slain at Yellow Creek and Captina, and sent 
them with their property safe to Pittsburgh. J But Logan, 
who had been turned by the murderers on the Ohio from a 
friend to a deadly foe of the whites, came suddenly upon the 
Monongahela settlements, and while the other Indians were 
hesitating as to their course, took his thirteen scalps in re- 
taliation for the murder of his family and friends, and return- 
ing home, expressed himself satisfied, and ready to listen to 
the Long-Knives. § But it was not, apparently, the wish of 
Dunmore or Connolly to meet the friendly spirit of the natives, 
and when, about the 10th of June, three of the Shawanese 
conducted the traders, who had been among them, safely to 
Pittsburgh, Connolly had even the meanness to attempt first 
to seize them, and when foiled in this by Colonel Croghan, his 
uncle, who had been alienated by his tyranny, he sent men to 
watch, waylay and kill them ; and one account says that one 
of the three was slain. || Indeed, the character developed by 
this man, while commandant at fort Dunmore, was such as to 
excite universal detestation, and at last to draw down upon 
his patron the reproof of Lord Dartmouth. Tf lie seized pro- 
perty, and imprisoned white men without warrant or pro- 
priety ; and we may be assured, in many cases beside that 
just mentioned, treated the natives with an utter disregard of 
justice. It is not, then, surprising that Indian attacks occurred 
along the frontiers from June to September; nor, on the other 
hand, need we wonder that the Virginians (against whom, in 
distinction from the people of Pennsylvania, the war was car- 
ried on,) became more and more excited, and eager to repay 
the injuries received. 

To put a stop to these devastations, two large bodies of 
troops were gathering in Virginia; the one from the south- 
ern and western part of the State, under General Andrew 

* Am. Archives, Ith Series, i. 252 to 288. 

t I>o. do. +Do. do. gDo. 428. 

BDo. 449. 1[Do. r74. 



1774. Battle of Point Pleasant. 149 

Lewis, met at Camp Union, now Lewisburg, Greenbriar 
county, near the far-famed White Sulphur Springs ; — the other 
from the northern and eastern counties, was to be under the 
command of Dunmore himself, and descending the Ohio from 
Fort Pitt, was to meet Lewis' army at the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha. The force under Lewis, amounting to eleven hun- 
dred men, commenced its march upon the 6th and 12th of 
September, and upon the 6th of October reached the spot 
agreed upon. As Lord Dunmore was not there, and as other 
troops were to follow down the Kanawha under Colonel 
Christian, General Lewis dispatched runners toward Pitts- 
burgh to inform the Commander-in-chief of his arrival, and 
proceeded to encamp at the point where the two rivers meet. 
Here he remained until the 9th of October, when dispatches 
from the Governor reached him, informing him that the plan 
of the campaign was altered ; that he (Dunmore) meant to 
proceed directly against the Shawanese towns of the Scioto, 
and Lewis was ordered at once to cross the Ohio and meet 
the other army before those towns. But on the very day when 
this movement should have been executed, (October 10th,) the 
Indians in force, headed by the able and brave Chief of the 
Shawanese, Cornstalk, appeared before the army of Virgini- 
ans, determined then and there to avenge past wrongs and 
cripple vitally the power of the invaders. Delawares, Iro- 
quois, Wyandots, and Shawanese, under their most noted 
Chiefs, among whom was Logan, formed the army opposed to 
that of Lewis, and with both the struggle of that day was one 
of life or death. Soon after sunrise the presence of the sav- 
ages was discovered ; General Lewis ordered out his brother, 
Colonel Chas. Lewis, and Colonel Fleming, to reconnoitre the 
ground where they had been seen ; this at once brought on the 
engagement. In a short time Col. Lewis was killed, and 
Colonel Fleming disabled ; the troops, thus left without Com- 
manders, wavered, but Colonel Field with his regiment com- 
ing to the rescue, they again stood firm ; — about noon Colonel 
Field was killed, and Captain Evan Shelby, (father of Isaac 
Shelby, Governor of Kentucky in after time, and who was 
then Lieutenant in his father's company,) took the command ; 
and the battle still continued. It was now drawing toward 
evening, and yet the contest raged without decided success 
for either party, when General Lewis ordered a body of men 



150 Battie of Point Pleasant. 1774. 

to gain the flank of the enemy by means of Crooked Creek, a 
small stream which runs into the Kanawha about four hundred 
yards above its mouth. This was successfully done, and the 
result was the retreat of the Indians across the Ohio.* 

[The loss on the part of the Virginians in this battle was 
seventy-five men killed, and one hundred and forty wounded 
— about one-fifth of their entire number. 

Among the slain were Colonels Charles Lewis and John 
Field; Captains Buford, Morrow, Wood, Cundiff, Wilson and 
Robert McClanahan ; and Lieuts. Allen, Goldsby and Dillon, 
"with some other subalterns. The loss of the enemy could 
not be fully ascertained, as, until they are driven from the field, 
they carry off" their dead. Next morning Col. Christian ex- 
plored the battle-ground, and found twenty-one Indians lying 
dead, and subsequently twelve others concealed by brush and 
logs.f] • 

Lord Dunmore, meanwhile, had descended the river from 
Fort Pitt, and was, at the time he sent word to Lewis of his 
change of plans, at the mouth of the Hocking, where he built 
a block-house, called Fort Gower, and remained until after the 
battle at the Point. J Thence he marched on towards the 
Scioto, while Lewis and the remains of the army under his 
command, strengthened by the troops under Colonel Christian, 
pressed forward in the same direction, elated by the hope of 
annihilating the Indian towns, and punishing the inhabitants 
for all they had done. But before reaching the enemy's coun- 
try Dunmore was visited by the Chiefs asking for peace ;§ he 
listened to their request, and appointing a place where a treaty 
should be held, sent orders to Lewis to stop his march against 
the Shawanese towns ; which orders, however, that officer did 
not obey, nor was it till the Governor visited his camp on Con go 
Creek, near Westfall, that he would agree to give up an at- 
tempt upon the village of Old Chillicothe, which stood where 
Westfall now is.|| After this visit by Dunmore, General Lewis 
felt himself bound, though unwillingly, to prepare for a blood- 
less retreat. 

* Border Warfare, 125. Doddridge, 2.30. American Pioneer, i..381. Letters in Amer- 
ican Archives, fourth series, i. 80S-18, Ac. Thatcher'* Lives of Indians, ii. 168. 

1 Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia, pp. 361 — 364. 
J Border Warfare, 133. 

2 With them was one Elliott, probably Matthew Elliott, so noted in 1790 to 1795.— Amer- 
ican Pionwr, i. 18. U Whittlesey's Discourse, 18i0— p. 24. 



1774. Lord Dunynore Retires from the West. 151 

The Commander-in-chief, however, remained for a time at 
Camp Charlotte, upon Sippo Creek, about eight miles from 
the town of Westfall, on the Scioto.* There we met Corn- 
stalk, who, being satisfied of the futility of any further strug- 
gle, was determined to make peace, and arranged with the 
Governor the preliminaries of a treaty ; and from this point 
Crawford was sent against a town of the Mingoes, who still 
continued hostile, and took several prisoners, who were carried 
to Virginia, and were still in confinement in February, 1775.-J- 

[It was at this time and place, (Pickaway county, Ohio,) 
that Logan made his famous speech, and not at Camp Char- 
lotte, as Mr. Jefferson supposed (for he would not go there.) 
This and many other facts are sustained by the testimony of 
John Gibson, Esq., an Associate Judge of Alleghany county, 
given at Pittsburgh by affidavit, April 4th, 1800. 

These and other documents maybe found in an "Appendix" 
to Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Boston edition, 1832.J 

Many of the Virginians were dissatisfied with the treaty, 
as no effectual blow had been struck. The supposition is, the 
Governor of Virginia foresaw the contest between England 
and her Colonies, and desired to gain the friendship of the 
Indians. 

When Lord Dunmore retired from the West, he left one 
hundred men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, a few 
more at Pittsburgh, and another corps at Wheeling, then called 
Fort Fincastle. These were dismissed as the prospect of war 
ceased. Lord Dunmore agreed to return to Pittsburgh in the 
spring, meet the Indians and form a definite peace ; but the 
commencement of the revolt of the Colonies prevented. The 
Mingoes were not parties to the treaty at Camp Charlotte. J 
The Shawanese agreed not to hunt south of the Ohio river, 
nor molest travellers. § The frontier men were much incens- 
ed against Lord Dunmore for this treaty, but not the inhabitants 
of Old Virginia. II 

[During "Dunmore's War," as these series of hostilities 

* American Pioneer, p. 331, 

f American Archives, fourth series, i. 1222. Border Warfare, 137. — American Arckires, 
fourth series, ii. 1189. 

X Amer. Archives, ii. 1189. 

§Amer. Archives, fourth series, i. 1170. 

\ Amer. Archives, fourth series, ii. 170, 301. 



152 Transylvania Land Covipany. 1775. 

were called, the militia was called out, and Daniel Boone 
was appointed by the Governor to the command of three con- 
tiguous garrisons on the frontier. James Harrod and several 
other pioneers of Kentucky were engaged as scouts. Of these 
last were Simon Girty, Simon Kenton, (under the fictitious 
name of Butler,) and others. 

Boone, Harrod and others, on the return of peace, again 
turned their eyes to the fertile vallies and choice hunting 
grounds of Kentucky. A new Land Company, called the 
"Transylvania Company," was formed in North Carolina, 
through the agency of Richard Henderson, the Harts and 
others. This was one of the several companies formed about 
the same period to purchase lands of the Indians.* As the 
Cherokees claimed the country south of the Kentucky river, 
Henderson & Co. made several unsuccessful attempts at nego- 
tiation, when they employed Boone, who, as their confidential 
agent, had explored the country. The council was held at the 
Indian town of Watauga, on the south branch of Holston 
river, in March, 1775. Boone gave them the requisite infor- 
mation concerning the country, the rivers and other particu- 
lars. In consideration of the sum of ten thousand pounds 
sterling, the Indians transferred to the company two large dis- 
tricts of country, defined as follows :] 

The first was defined as " Beginning on the Ohio river, at 
the mouth of the Cantuckey Chenoee, or what, by the English, 
is called Louisa river \ from thence running up the said river, 
and the most northwardly fork of the same, to the head spring 
thereof; thence a south-east course to the top of the ridge of 
PowelTs mountain; thence westwardly along the ridge of the 
said mountain, unto a point from which a northwest course 
will hit or strike the head spring of the most southwardly 
branch of Cumberland river, thence down said river, including 
all its waters, to the Ohio river, and up the said river, as it 
meanders, to the beginning." 

The other deed comprised a tract "beginning on the Holston 
river, where the course of Powell's mountain strikes the same; 
thence up the said river, as it meanders, to Avhere the Virginia 
line cro.sscs the same ; thence westwardly along the line run 
by Donaldson, to a point six English miles eastward of the 
long island in said Holston river ; thence a direct course to- 
wards the mouth of the Great Canaway, until if reaches the 
top ridge of Powell's mountain ; thence westwardly along the 

* Sco Patrick Ucnry'a Deposition, in Hall's Sketcho?, i. 249. 



1775. Fort Erected at Boonesborougk. 153 

said ridge to the place of beginning."* This transfer, how- 
ever, was in opposition to the ancient and constant policy, 
both of England and Virginia, neither of which would 
recognize any private dealings for land with the natives ; 
and as much of the region to be occupied by the Tran- 
sylvania Company was believed to be within the bounds 
of the Old Dominion, Governor Dunmore, even before the 
bargain was completed, prepared his proclamation warning 
the world against "one Richard Henderson and other disor- 
derly persons, who, under pretence of a purchase from the 
Indians, do set up a claim to the lands of the crown." This 
paper is dated but four days later than the treaty of Watauga. f 

[Neither did the British, or any other European government, 
recognize the entire sovereignty of the Indians over this coun- 
try, or the title as valid to any purchase made by subjects in 
their own right. 

After a long period of litigation, the matter was settled by 
a compromise ; the State of Virginia granted to the company 
a tract of land on Green river. 

The Company, however, not aware of the defect of their 
title, proceeded to the survey and settlement of the tract in 
Kentucky, and Capt. Boone was employed to manage the 
enterprise. A road was explored and opened, and a fort 
erected at Boonesborough, under the command of Boone.] 

Upon the 20th or 25th of March, an attack had been made 
upon those first invaders of the forests, in which two of their 
number were killed, and one or two others wounded : repulsed 
but not defeated, the savages watched their opportunity, and 
again attacked the little band ; but being satisfied by these 
attempts,^ that the leaders of the vi^hites were their equals in 
forest warfare, the natives offered no further opposition to the 
march of the hunters, who proceeded to the Kentucky, and 
upon the 1st of April, 1775, began the erection of a fort upon 
the banks of that stream, sixty yards south of the river, at a 
salt-lick. This was Boonesboro'. This fort or station was 

*Hall, i. 251. See also Butler, 504. Butler, instead of "Cantucky Chenoee" has 
"Kentucky Chenoca." See also Haywood's Tennessee. Life of Boone, by the Editor in 
Sparks' Library of Amer. Biography, xiii. new series, p. 43, 45. 

f American Archives, 4th series, 174. 

JSee Boone's Narrative, and his letter in Hall's Sketches, i. 254. They do not agree 
entirely. 

10 



154 Settlements in Kentucky. 1775. 

probably, when complete, about two hundred and fifty feet 
long by one hundred and fifty broad, and consisted of block- 
houses and pickets, the cabins of the settlers forming part of 
the defences;* it was, from neglect, not completed until June 
14th. and the party, while engaged in its erection, appear to 
have been but little annoyed by the Indians, although one 
man was killed upon the 4th of April. To this station, while 
yet but half complete, Henderson and his companions came 
the 20th of April, following the road marked out by Boone. 

[On the 13th of June, 1775, Mr. Henderson wTote a long 
letter from Boonesborough, Ky., to his associates in North 
Carolina, giving many particulars of the difficulties and the 
progress of this enterprise of which we can give only a brief 
summary. The letter may be found in " Sketches of the 
West," by James Hall, Esq., Appendix, volume second. 

Henderson represents that "things wore a gloomy aspect;" 
— that on their journey out they met people returning, and in 
four days saw not less than one hundred persons, who had 
become alarmed at the hostile appearance of the Indians; 
that "arguments and persuasion were needless." Eight or 
ten were the only persons he could prevail on to proceed 
with the little company of about forty. 

The panic was contagious. But on their arrival at Boones- 
borough, they found Captain Boone and his men wholly free 
from alarm, and with the fort nearly completed. The "plan- 
tations extend nearly two miles in length on the river, and up 
a creek.' Here the people worked on "their different lots; 
some without their guns, and others without care." 

We give an extract from the letter to show the condition of 
the country at that period.] 

We are seated at the mouth of Otter Creek on the Ken- 
tucky, about 150 miles from the Ohio. To the West, about 
50 miles from us, arc two settlements, within six or seven 
miles one of the other. There were, some time ago, about 
100 at the two places; though now, perhaps, not more than 
60 or 70, as many of them are gone up the Ohio for their 
families, (Sec; and some returned by the way we came, to Vir- 
ginia and elsewhere. ♦ * * q^ ^j^^ opposite 
side of the river and north of us, about 40 miles, is a settle- 
ment on the crown lands, of about 19 persons; and lower 
down, towards the Ohio, on the same side, there are some 

»See plan of the fort, Hall's Sketches, L 



1775. First Political Convention. 155 

other settlers, how many, or at what place, I can't exactly 
learn. There is also a party of about 10 or 12, with a sur- 
veyor, who is employed in searching through the country, and 
laying off officers' lands ; they have been more than three 
weeks within ten miles of us, and will be several weeks 
longer ranging up and down the country. * * * 
Colonel Harrod, who governs the two first mentioned settle- 
ments, (and is a very good man for our purpose,) Colonel 
Floyd, (the surveyor) and myself, are under solemn engage- 
ments to communicate, with the utmost dispatch every piece 
of intelligence respecting danger or sign of Indians, to each 
other. In case of invasion of Indians, both the other parties 
are instantly to march and relieve the distressed, if possible. 
Add to this, that our country is so fertile, the growth of grass 
and herbage so tender and luxuriant, that it is almost impos- 
sible for man or dog to travel, without leaving such sign that 
you might, for many days, gallop a horse on the trail- To be 
serious, it is impossible for any number of people to pass 
through the woods without being tracked, and of course dis- 
covered, if Indians, for our hunters all go on horseback, and 
could not be deceived if they were to come on the trace of foot- 
men. From these circumstances, I think myself in a great 
measure secure against a formidable attack ; and a few skulk- 
ers could only kill one or two, which would not much affect 
the interest of the company. * );= * 

Upon the 23d of May, the persons then in the country, 
were called on by Henderson to send representatives to 
Boonesboro', to agree upon a form of government, and to 
make laws for the conduct of the inhabitants. From the 
journal of this primitive legislature, we find, that, besides 
Boonesboro', three settlements were represented, viz : Har- 
rodsburgh, which had been founded by James Harrod in 1774, 
though afterwards for a time abandoned, in consequence of 
Dunmore's war; the Boiling Spring settlement, also headed 
by James Harrod, who had returned to the West early in 1775; 
and St. Asaph, in Lincoln county, where Benjamin Logan, 
who is said to have crossed the mountains with Henderson, 
was building himself a station; well known in the troubles 
with the Indians which soon followed. 

The labors of this first of Western Legislatures were fruitless 
as the Transjdvania colony was soon transformed into the 
county ofKentucky, and yet some notice of them seems proper. 
There were present seventeen representatives; they met 
about fifty yards from the bank of the Kentucky, under the 
budding branches of a vast elm, while around their feet sprang 



156 First Political Convention. 1775. 

the native white clover, as a carpet for their hall of legislation. 
When God's blessing had been asked by the Rev. John Lythe, 
Colonel Henderson offered an address on behalf of the Pro- 
prietors, from which we select a few paragraphs illustrative 
of the spirit of the men and times. 

"Our peculiar circumstances in this remote country, sur- 
rounded on all sides with difficulties, and equally subject to 
one common danger, which threatens our common overthrow, 
must, 1 think, in their effects, secure to us an union of inter- 
ests, and consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential 
to the forming good, wise, and wholesome laws. If any 
doubt remain amongst you with respect to the force or efficacy 
of whatever laws you now, or hereafter, make, be pleased to 
consider that all power is originally in the people ; therefore, 
make it their interest, by impartial and beneficial laws, and 
you may be sure of their inclination to see them enforced. 
For it is not to be supposed that a people, anxious and desi- 
rous to have laws made, — who approve ol the method of 
choosing delegates, or representatives, to meet in general Con- 
vention for that purpose, can want the necessary and con- 
comitant virtue to carry them into execution. * * 

Among the many objects that must present themselves for 
your consideration, the first in order, must, from its importance, 
be that of establishing Courts of Justice, or tribunals for the 
punishment of such as may offend against the laws you are 
about to make. As this law will be the chief corner stone in 
the ground work or basis of our constitution, let us, in a par- 
ticular manner, recommend the most dispassionate attention, 
while you take for your guide as much of the spirit and genius 
of the laws of England, as can be interwoven with those of 
this country. 

Next to the establishment of courts or tribunals, as well for 
the punishment of public offenders as the recovering of just 
debts, that of establishing and regulating a militia, seems of 
the greatest importance ; it is apparent, that without some 
wise institution, respecting our mutual defence, the different 
towns or settlements are every day exposed to the most immi- 
nent danger, and liable to be destroyed at the mere Mill of the 
savage Indians. INothing, 1 am persuaded, but their entire 
ignorance of our weakness and want of order, has hitherto 
preserved us from the destructive and rapacious hands of cru- 
elty, and given us an opportunity at this time, of forming 
secure defensive plans to be supported and carried into execu- 
tion by the authority and sanction of a well digested law. 

There are sundry other things, highly worthy your consid- 
eration, and demand redress; such as the wanton destruction 
of our game, the only support of life amongst many of us, and 
for want of which the country would be abandoned ere to- 



1775. First Political Convention. 157 

morrow, and scarcely a probability remain of its ever becom- 
ing the habitation of any Christian people. This, together 
with the practice of many foreigners, who make a business of 
hunting in our country, killing, driving oft", and lessening the 
number of wild cattle and other game, whilst the value of the 
skins and furs, is appropriated to the benefit of persons not 
concerned or interested in our settlement : these are evils, I 
say, that I am convinced cannot escape your notice and atten- 
tion."* 

[It should be kept in mind that this Convention was the first 
ever held in the wilds of the West, to form a government, and 
it is evident these backwoods Kentuckians had in their minds 
the elements of a republican representative government.] 

To the address of Colonel Henderson, the representatives of 
this infant commonwealth replied, by stating their readiness 
to comply with the recommendations of the Proprietor, as 
being just and reasonable, and proceeded, with praiseworthy 
diligence, to pass the necessary acts. They were in session 
three working days, in which time they enacted the nine fol- 
lowing laws ; — one for establishing courts ; one for punishing 
crimes ; a third for regulating the militia ; a fourth for punish- 
ing swearing and Sabbath-breaking ; a fifth providing for 
writs of attachment ; a sixth fixing fees ; and three others for 
preserving the range, improving the breed of horses, and pre- 
serving game. In addition to these laws, this working House 
of Delegates prepared a compact, to be the basis of relation- 
ship between the people and owners of Transylvania : some 
of its leading articles were these : — 

1st. That the election of Delegates in this Colony, be an- 
nual. 

2d. That the Convention may adjourn and meet again on 
their own adjournment, provided, that in cases of great emer- 
gency the proprietors may call together the Delegates before 
the time adjourned to, and if a majority does not attend, they 
may dissolve them and call a new one. 

3d. That, to prevent dissension and delay of business, one 
proprietor shall act for the whole, or some one delegated by 
them for that purpose, who shall always reside in the colony. 

4th. That there be a perfect religious freedom and general 
toleration — Provided, that the propagators of any doctrine or 
tenets, widely tending to the subversion of our laws, shall, for 
such conduct, be amenable to, and punishable by, the civil 
courts. 

*See Butler's Kentucky, p. 50S. 



158 First Political Convention. 1775. 

5th. That the Judges of Superior or Supreme Courts be 
appointed by the proprietors, but be supported by the people^, 
and to them answerable for their mal-eonduct. 

9th. That the Judges of the inferior Courts be recommend- 
ed by the people, and approved of by the proprietors, and by 
them commissioned. 

10th. That all civil and military officers be within the ap- 
pointment of the proprietors. 

lllh. That the office of Surveyor General, belong tone 
person interested, or a partner in this purchase. 

12th. That the legislative authority, after the strength and 
maturity of the colony will permit, consist of three branches, 
to wit : the delegates or representatives chosen by the people, 
a council not exceeding twelve men, possessed of landed es- 
tate, residing in the colony, and the proprietors. 

17th. That the convention have the sole power of raising 
and appropriating all public monies, and electing their Trea- 
surer.* 

On the 27th of May this Legislature adjourned to meet 
again upon the first Thursday of the next September, though 
we do not learn that it ever did so. 

From the time of the unpopular treaty of Camp Charlotte, 
the western people had been apprehensive of extensive injury 
to the American frontiers from the Indians, instigated by 
agents reaching them through Canada, whenever the expect- 
ed outbreak with England took place. Nor was it long before 
the Americans in the North saw the dangers to be feared from 
the action of the Indians, influenced by the British ; and early 
in April, 1775, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts wrote 
to the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, then a missionary among the 
Oneidas, informing him that, having heard that the English 
were trying to attach the Six Nations to their interest, it had 
been thought proper to ask the several tribes, through him, to 
stand neutral. Steps were also taken to secure the co-opera- 
tion, if possible, of the Penobscot and Stockbridge Indians; 
the latter of whom replied, that, though they could never un- 
derstand what the quarrel between the Provinces and old 
England was about, yet they \vould stand by the Americans. 
They also offered to "ieel the mind" of the Iroquois, and try 
to bring them over.f 

•See Butler's Kentucky, p. 514. 

fStone, vol. 1, pp. 55-53. — Sparks' WashiDgton, vol. iii, pp. 495-496. 



1775. Appeals to the Indians. 159 

But the Iroquois were not to be easily won over by any 
means. Sir William Johnson, so long the King's agent among 
them, and to whom they looked with the confidence of child- 
ren in a father, had died suddenly, in June, 1774, and the wild 
men had been left under the influence of Col. Guy Johnson, 
Sir William's son-in-law, who succeeded him as Superinten- 
dent, and of John Johnson, Sir William's son, who succeeded 
to his estates and honors. Both these men were tories ; and 
their influence in favor of England was increased by that of 
the celebrated Joseph Brant. This trio, acting in conjunction 
with some of the rich old royalists along the Mohawk, op- 
posed the whole movement of the Bostonians, the whole 
spirit of the Philadelphia Congress, and every attempt, open 
or secret, in favor of the rebels. Believing Mr. Kirkland to be 
little better than a Whig in disguise, and fearing that he might 
alienate the tribe in which he was, from their old faith, and, 
through them, influence the others, the Johnsons, while the 
war was still bloodless, made strong eflbrts to remove him 
from his position. 

Nor were the fears of the Johnsons groundless, as is shown 
by the address of the Oneida Indians to the New England 
Governors, in which they state their intention of remaining 
neutral during so unnatural a quarrel as that just then com- 
mencing. But this intention the leading tribe of the great 
Indian confederacy meant to disturb, if possible. The idea 
was suggested, that Guy Johnson was in danger of being seized 
by the Bostonians, and an attempt was made to rally about 
him the savages as a body-guard ; while he, on his part, wrote 
to the neighboring magistrates, holding out to them, as a ter- 
ror, the excitement of the Indians, and the dangers to be feared 
from their rising, if he were seized, or their rights interfered 
with. 

So stood matters in the Mohawk valley, during the month 
of May, 1775. The Johnsons were gathering a little army, 
which soon amounted to five hundred men ; and the Revolu- 
tionary committees, resolute never to yield one hair's breadth, 
"never to submit to any arbitrary acts of any power under 
heaven," were denouncing Colonel Guy's conduct as "arbi- 
trary, illegal, oppressive, and unwarrantable." "Watch him," 
wrote Washington to General Schuyler in June ; and, even 
before the order was given, what with the Tryon county men 



160 The Indians Divided. 1775. 

above him on the river, and the whole provincial force below 
him, he was likely to be well watched. Finding himself thus 
fettered, and feeling it to be time to take some decided step, 
the Superintendent, early in July, began to move westward, 
accompanied by his dependents and the great body of the 
Mohawk Indians, who remained firm in the British interests.* 
He moved first to Fort Stanwix, (afterwards Fort Schuyler, 
near the present town of Rome,) and then went on to Ontario, 
where he arrived early in July, and held a Congress with 
thirteen hundred and forty warriors, Avhose old attachment 
was then and there renewed. Joseph Brant, be it noted, 
during all this time, was acting as the Superintendent's Sec- 
retary. 

All of the Six Nations, except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, 
might now be deemed in alliance with the British. Those 
tribes, chiefly through the exertions of Mr. Kirkland, were 
prevented from going with the others, and upon the 28th of 
June, at German Flats, gave to the Americans a pledge of 
neutrality.! 

^Vhile the members of the Northern Confederacy were thus 
divided in their attachments, the Delawares of the upper 
Ohio were by no means unanimous in their opinions as to this 
puzzling family quarrel which was coming on ; and Congress, 
having been informed on the first day of June, that the 
western Virginians stood in fear of the Indians, with whom 
Lord Dunmore, in his small way, was, as they thought, tam- 
pering,J it was determined to have a Congress called at Pitts- 
burgh, to explain to the poor red men the causes of the sud- 
den division of their old enemies, and try to persuade them to 
keep peace. This Congress did not meet, however, until 
October.^ 

Nor was it from the northern and western tribes only, that 
hostilities were feared. The Cherokees and their neighbors 
were much dreaded, and not withoutcause ; as they were then 
less under the control of the whites, than either the Iroquois 
or Delawares, and might, in the hope of securing their free- 
dom, be led to unite, in a warfare of extermination against 
the Carolinas. We find, accordingly, that early in July, Con- 

♦Stone, vol. i. p. 77 tStone, toI. i. p. 81. 

JOld Journals, vol. i. p. 7?. JHeckewelder's Narrative, p. 136. 



1775. Conference ivith Northern Indians. 161 

gress having determined to seek the alliance of the several 
Indian nations, three departments were formed ;* a northern 
one, including the Six Nations and all north and east of them, 
to the charge of which General Schuyler, Oliver Wolcott, and 
three others, were appointed ; a middle department, including 
the Western Indians, who were to be looked to by Messrs. 
Franklin, Henry, and Wilson ; and a southern department, 
including all the tribes south of Kentucky, over which com- 
missioners were to preside under the appointment of the South 
Carolina Council of Safety. These commissioners were to 
keep a close watch upon the nations in their several depart- 
ments, and upon the King's Superintendents among them. 
These officers they were to seize, if they had reason to think 
them engaged in stirring up the natives against the colonies, 
and in all ways were to seek to keep those natives quiet and 
out of the contest. Talks were also prepared to send to the 
several tribes, in which an attempt was made to illustrate the 
relations between England and America, by comparing the 
last to a child ordered to carry a pack too heavy for its 
strength. The boy complains, and, for answer, the pack is 
made a little heavier. Again and again the poor urchin re- 
monstrates, but the bad servants misrepresent the matter to 
the father, and the boy gets a still heavier burden, till at last, 
almost broken -backed, he throws off the load altogether, and 
saj's he will carry it no longer. This allegory was intend- 
ed to make the matter clear to the pack-carrying red men, 
and, if we may judge from Heckewelder's account, it answer- 
ed the purpose ; for, he says, the Delawares reported the 
whole story very correctly. Indeed, he gives their report upon 
the 137th page of his "Narrative," which report agrees very 
well with the original speech, preserved to us in the Journals 
of the old Congress.! 

The first conference held by the commissioners, was in the 
northern department, a grand Congress coming together at 
Albany in August. Of this Congress a full account may be 
found in Colonel Stone's first volume.J It did not, however, 

*01d Journals, vol. i. p. 113, <fec. 

t Vol. i. p. 115. See also in Carey's Museum for January, 1789, p. 88 to 91, the speech 
to the Iroquois at Philadelphia, delivered July, 13th 1775 j in this the pack-proverb is giv- 
en fully and very well. 

J Pp. 94-105. Appendix ir. xxxi. 



162 Confei-cnce ivith Western Indians. 1775. 

fully represent the Six Nations, and some, even of those who 
were present, immediately afterwards deserted to the British ; 
so that the result was slight. 

The next conference was held at Pittsburgh with the west- 
ern Indians. This was in October, and was attended by the 
Delawarcs, Senecas, and, perhaps, some of the Shawanese. 
Th« Delaware nation were, as we have already said, divided 
in their views touching the Americans. One of their chief- 
tains, Captain White-Eyes, a man of high character and clear 
mind, of courage such as became the leader of a race whose 
most common virtues were those of the wild man, and of a 
forbearance and kindness as unusual as fearlessness was fre- 
quent, among his people, — this true man was now, as always, 
in favor of peace ; and his influence carried with him a strong 
part}'. But there were others, again, who longed for war, 
and wished to carry the whole nation over to the British 
interest. These were led by a cunning and able man, called 
Captain Pipe, who, without the energy, moral daring, and un- 
clouded honesty of his opponent, had many qualities admira- 
bly suited to win and rule Indians. Between these two men 
there was a division from the beginning of the Revolution till 
the death of White-Eyes. At the Pittsburgh Conference, the 
Peace Chief, as he was called, was present, and there asserted 
his freedom of the Six Nations, who, through their emissa- 
ries present, tried to bend the Delawares, as they had been 
used to do. His bold denial of the claim of the Iroquois to 
rule his people, was seized upon by some of the War-Party, 
as a pretext for leaving the JMuskingum, where White-Eyes 
lived, and withdrawing toward Lake Erie, into the more im- 
mediate vicinity of the English and their allies. 

The Shawanese and their neighbors, meantime, had taken 
counsel with Guy Johnson at Oswego, and might be consid- 
ered as in league with the king. Indeed, we can neither 
Monder at, nor blame these bewildered savages for leaguing 
themselves with any power against those actual occupants of 
their hunting-grounds, who arc, here and there in Kentucky, 
building block-houses and clearing corn-fields. Against those 
block-houses and their builders, little bands of red men con- 
tinually kept sallying forth, supplied with ammunition from 
Detroit and the other western posts, and incited to exertion by 
the well known stimulants of whisky and fine clothes. 



1775. Settlement of Kentucky. 163 

However, it is hardly correct to say, that this was done in 
1775, though the arrangements were, beyond doubt, made in 
that year. Col. Johnson having visited Montreal, immediately 
after the council with the Shawanese and others at Oswego, 
for the purpose of concluding with the Brifsh governor and 
general upon his future course. 

But although the dangers of the posts, more immediately 
exposed to Indian invasions, were understood both East and 
West, it did not prevent emigration. In June, 1775, Boone 
had sought the settlements once more, in order to remove his 
family ; and in the following September, with four females, 
the fearless mothers of Kentucky, re-crossed the mountains. 
These four women were, his own Avife, Mrs. McGary, Mrs. 
Danton and Mrs. Hogan ; their husbands and children came 
with them, and more than twenty men able to bear arms, 
were also of the party. 

'• At the close of 1775, then, the country along the Kentucky 
was filling with emigrants, although doubt and dissatisfaction 
already existed as to Henderson's purchase, and especially as 
to holding lands of proprietors, and being governed by them : 
— many of the new settlers not being ignorant of the evils 
brought on Pennsylvania by means of the Proprietary rule. 
But hope was still predominant, and the characters of Har- 
rod, Floyd, Logan and the Harts, were well calculated to in- 
spire confidence. 

North of the Ohio, during that year, little was doing of 
which any knowledge has reached us : but one settlement be- 
yond the Belle Reviere deserves our notice. 

Our readers will remember the calm and bold Moravian, 
Christian Frederick Post, who journeyed to the Big Beaver 
Creek in 1758, and won the Delawares to peace. This same 
man, in 1761, thinking the true faith might be planted among 
those western tribes, journeyed out to the Muskingum, and, on 
the banks of that stream, about a mile from Beaver s Town, 
built himself a house.* The next season, that is, in the spring 
of 1762, he again crossed the mountains in company with the 
well known Heckew^elder, who went out as his assistant. The 
Indians having consented to his living among them, and teach- 
ing their children to read and write, Post prepared to clear a 

* Heokewelder's Narrative, p. 59. 



164 The Moravian Missionary. 1762. 

few acres whereon to raise corn. The chiefs hearing of this 
called him to them, and said they feared he had changed his 
mind, for, instead of teaching their children, he was clearing 
land ; which, if he did, others might do, and then a fort be 
built to protect them, and then the land claimed, and they be 
driven off, as had always, they said, been the case. Post re- 
plied that a teacher must live, and, as he did not wish to be 
a burden to them, he proposed to raise his own food. This 
reply the Indians considered, and told him, that, as he claimed 
to be a minister of God, just as the French priests did, and as 
these latter looked fat and comely though they did not raise 
corn, it was probable that the Great Spirit would take care of 
him as he did of them, if he wished him to be his minister ; so 
they could only give him a garden spot. This Captain Pipe 
stepped off for him, and with this he had to shift as well as he 
could. 

I'hese proceedings were in 1762, and while they show the 
perfect perception which the Indians had of their dangers, and 
of the English tactics, explain most clearly the causes of the 
next year's war. 

Post continued to till his little garden spot and teach his 
Indian disciples through the summer of 1762, and in the au- 
tumn accompanied King Beaver to Lancaster, in Pennsylva- 
nia, where a fruitless treaty was concluded with the whites. 
Returning from this treaty in October, he met llecke welder, 
who had been warned by his red friends to leave the coun- 
try before war came, and was forced back upon the settle- 
ments. 

From this time, until the autumn of 1767, no Moravians 
visited the West. Then, in the following spring, Zeisberger 
went to the Allegheny, and there established a mission, 
against the will, however, of the greater part of the savages, 
who saw nothing but evil in the white man's eye.* The fruits 
would not ripen, the deer would not stay, they said, where the 
white man came. But Zeisberger's was a fearless soul, and he 
worked on, despite threats and plots against his life ; and not 
only held his place, but even converted some of the leading 
Indians. Among these was one Mho had come from the Big 
Beaver, for the purpose of refuting the Moravians ; and this 

* Ileckewelder's Narrative, p. 93. 



1775. Conspiracy to unite the Indians. 165 

man being influential, the missionaries were in 1770 invited 
to come to Big Beaver, whither they went in April of that 
year, settling about twenty miles from its mouth. Nor did the 
kindness of the Indians stop here. The Del a wares of the 
Muskingum, remembering perhaps what Post had done among 
them ten years before, invited the Christian Indians of Penn- 
sylvania to come and live on their river; and in this invitation 
the Wyandots joined. The proposition was long considered, 
and at last agreed to ; and, on the 3d of May, 1772, Zeisber- 
ger, with twenty-seven of his native disciples, founded Schoen- 
brun, upon the Muskingum, — the first true Christian settle- 
ment made within the present State of Ohio, and the begin- 
ning of that which was destroyed by the frontier men ten 
years afterward, in so cruel and cowardly a manner. To this' 
settlement, in the course of the next year, the Christian Indi- 
ans of the Susquehanna, and those of the Big Beaver, re- 
moved. Though endangered by the war of 1774, it was not 
injured, and, when our Revolution began, was the only point 
beyond Pittsburgh, north of the river, where the English were 
dwelling and laboring.* 

It was towards the close of this last year of our colonial 
existence, 1775, that a plot was discovered, which involved 
some whose names have already appeared upon our pages, 
and which, if successful, would have influenced the fortunes 
of the West deeply. Dr. John Connolly, of Pittsburgh, (he, 
whom Washington had met and talked with in 1770, and 
with whom he had afterwards corresponded in relation to 
western lands, and who played so prominent a part as com- 
mandant of Pittsburgh, where he continued at least through 
1774,)f was, from the outset of the revolutionary movements, 
a Tory; and being a man extensively acquainted with the 
West, a man of talent, and fearless withal, he naturally be- 
came a leader. This man, in 1775, planned a union of the 
north-western Indians with British troops, which combined 
forces were to be led, under his command, from Detroit, and 
after ravaging the few frontier settlements, were to join Lord 
Dunmore in eastern Virginia. To forward his plans, Connolly 
visited Boston to see General Gage ; then having returned to 

*See on the whole subject of the Moravian Missions; Heckewelder's account in Ameri- 
can State Papers, vi. 379 to 391. 

t American Archives, fourth series, L 1179, 



16G Early Pioneers. 1775. 

the south, in the fall of 1775, he left Lord Dunmore for the 
West, bearing one set of instructions upon his person, and 
another set, the true ones, most artfully concealed, under the 
direction of Lord Dunmore himself, in his saddle, secured by 
tin and waxed cloth. He and his comrades, had gone as far 
as Ilagerstown, where they were arrested upon suspicion, and 
sent back to Frederick. There they were searched, and the 
papers upon Connolly's person were found, seized, and sent 
to Congress. AVashington having been informed by one who 
was present when the genuine instructions were concealed as 
above stated, wrote twice on the subject to the proper authori- 
ties, in order to lead to their discovery, but we do not learn 
that they were ever found. Connolly himself was confined, 
and remained a close prisoner till 1781, complaining much of 
his hard lot, but finding few to pity him.* 

[Dr. Connolly was one of the early explorers of Kentucky, 
and in 1770 proposed to establish a province, which would 
have included the Cumberland, or Shawanee river from a line 
drawn above the Fork to the Falls and the Ohio.f After- 
wards he caused to be surveyed, patented, and advertised, in 
April, 1774, the ground on which Louisville was built. J 

Among the prominent pioneers and explorers of Kentucky, 
this year, was Simon Kenton, Colonel Benjamin Logan, John 
Floyd, William Whitley and George Rogers Clarke. Simon 
Kenton was a tall, robust, athletic man, and of great energy 
of character. He was a ranger and a spy in Dunmore's 
campaign against the Indians in 1774, and with two other 
men, came down the Ohio river in a canoe to the place where 
Augusta is now situated, and spent the season in hunting on 
the waters of the Licking. He became identified with the 
history of Kentucky, and the Indian wars of the north-west. 
He was taken prisoner by the Indians, and sentenced to be 
burnt, but was rescued by the notorious Simon Girty, after he 
was tied to the stake and the fire kindled around him. He 

*Amcrioan Archives, -tth scries, iv. 617, where Connolly's commission and several let- 
ters are given; do. iii. lOCO, where his examination is to be found; also, see index^of 
both vols. See also Sparks' Washington, iii. 197, 211, 212, 269, 271. Border TVarfare, 
133. Old Journals, iii. 36, 121, 122, 125, 385. The whole story is in the report of the 
committee of Congress, old journals, iii. 121. Sec also Smyth's account of the nfFair in 
the 2nd vol. of his work, p. 2-13. 

■fSparks' Washington, ii. 632. 

J Amcr. Archives, fourth series. Western Garland, February, 1846, p. 93. 



1775. Early Pioneers. 167 

was with Col. G. R. Clarke in the Conquest of Illinois, and in 
Wayne's army in 1795. After the close of the Indian wars 
in the north-west, he settled in Ohio, where he sustained the 
character of a worthy citizen, and died a few years since with 
the faith of a sincere Christian. 

Colonel Benjamin Logan lived in Kentucky and performed 
an important part in the annals of that Commonwealth. 

One of those men whose name appears prominent in Ken- 
tucky history was Colonel John Floyd, a surveyor from eastern 
Virginia. His first exploration was made in 1774, but in 
1775, he returned to pursue his vocation as a surveyor in lo- 
cating land claims. His location was a few miles from Louis- 
ville, on Bear Grass creek, known to this day as "Floyd's Sta- 
tion." 

The emigrants to the Transylvania colony continued to in- 
crease in number through the summer, so that on the first of 
November the white population in all the settlements in Ken- 
tucky amounted to three hundred persons, a majority of whom 
were effective men for the defence of the settlements. The 
whole quantity of land in cultivation was two hundred and 
thirty acres, planted in corn. The lands entered at the land 
office by individuals amounted to five hundred and sixty thou- 
sand acres.* 

During the summer of 1775, Harrod's Station and Logan-'s 
Fort were established. A party of hunters and land explorers 
were encamped on a fertile and delightful tract of country on 
the head waters of the Elkhorn, ■when an emigrant from Vir- 
ginia brought the news of the battle of Lexington, and the 
outbreak of the American revolution. The feelings of liberty 
and patriotism excited gave name to the encampment as the 
embryo of a future city, and Lexington exists in commemo- 
ration of the fact.f Louisville was a rendezvous for all those 
who came down the Ohio river in boats and canoes. 

*Butler's Kentucky, Introduction, p. 03, 69. — Monette's Valley of tlie Mississippi, L 
397. 
f Morehead's Address, p. 33. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ANNALS OF 1776 AND 1777. 

Employment of Indians in the War — Pioneers to Kentucky — Capture and rescue of Girls 
— Petition of the Inhabitants — Efforts of George Rogers Clarke — Corn-stalk and Red- 
bud killed — Troubles in Kentucky — Attack on Wheeling — Simon Girty and family. 

Jn the annals of Kentucky, the year 1776 is remarkable, first, 
for the recognition by Virginia of the Transylvania colony, as 
a part of the Old Dominion; and secondly, for such a renew- 
al of hostilities, as drove many, who had come to make the 
West their home, back over the mountains again. During 
the last six months of 1775, and the first half of 1776, the 
northern savages had in a great measure ceased their excur- 
sions against the invaders of their hunting-grounds. Not, 
however, because they had given up the contest ; they were 
preparing, in connection with the British agents in the north- 
west, to act with deadly efficiency against the frontier sta- 
tions. From an early period in the Revolutionary w^ar, the 
use of the Indians had been contemplated by both parties to 
the struggle. It had been usual, in the contest between the 
French and English, as we have seen ; and few seem to 
have deemed it possible to avoid alliances Mith the red men. 
There is cause to think that England took the first steps 
that were taken to enlist the Indians in the quarrel of mother 
and daughter. The first mention of the subject, which we 
meet with, is in the address of the Massachusetts Congress to 
the Iroquois, in April, 1775.* In that they say, that they hear 
that the British are exciting the savages against the colonies ; 
and they ask the Six Actions to aid them or stand quiet. f And 
in the June following, when James Wood visited the Western 
tribes, and asked them to a council, which he did under the di- 
rection of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he found that 
Governor Carlton had been beforehand, and ofiered the alli- 

* Sparks' Washington, vol. iii.p, 495. 

t American Archives, fourth scries, ir, 110. 



1776. Authority to Employ Indians. 16^ 

ance of England.* It would seem, then, that even before the 
battle of Lexington, both parties had applied to the Indians^ 
and sought an alliance. In the outset, therefore, both parties 
were of the same mind and pursued the same course. The 
Congress of the United Colonies, however, during 1775, and 
until the summer of 1776, advocated merely the attempt to keep the 
Indians out of the contest entirely, and instructed the Commission- 
ers, appointed in the several departments, to do so. But Eng- 
land was of another mind. Promises and threats were both 
used to induce the savages to act "with her.f though, at first, it 
would seem, to little purpose, even the Canada tribe of 
Caghnawagas having offered their aid to the Americans. 
When Britain, however, became victorious in the North, and 
particularly after the battle of the Cedars, in May, 1776, the 
wild men began to think of holding to her side, their policy 
being, in all quarrels of the whites, to stick to the strongest. 
Then it was, in June, 1776, that Congress resolved to do what 
Washington had advised in the previous April, that is, to em- 
ploy the savages in active warfare. Upon the 19th of 
April, the Commander-in-chief wrote to Congress, saying, as 
the Indians would soon be engaged, either for or against, he 
would suggest that they be engaged for the colonies ;J upon 
the 3d of May, the report on this was considered ; upon the 
25th of May, it was resolved to be highly expedient to engage 
the Indians for the American service ; and, upon the 3d of 
June, the General was empowered to raise two thousand to be 
employed in Canada. Upon the 17th of June, Washington 
was authorized to employ them where he pleased, and to 
offer them rewards for prisoners; and upon the 8th of July, 
he was empowered to call out as many of the Nova Scotia 
and neighboring tribes as he saw fit.§ 

Such was the course of proceeding, on the part of the colo- 
nies, with regard to the employment of the Indians. The steps, 
at the time, were secret, but now the whole story is before the 
world. Not so, however, with regard to the acts of England ; 
as to them, we have but few of the records placed within our 
reach. One thing, however, is known, namely, that, while the 

^Sparks' Washington, vol. iii. p. 55. tlbid., p. 55. 

JSparks' Washington, vol. iii. p. 36i. Also, v. 277, where tie views of Burke, Govern- 
or Pownall, and others, are given. 
^Secret Journals, vol. i. pp. 43-47. 
11 



170 The Indians side with England. 1776. 

colonies offered their allies of the woods rewards for 73?/5o«<fr5, 
some of the British agents gave them money for scalps* — a 
proceeding that cannot find any justification. 

In accordance with the course of policy thus pursued, the 
north-western tribes, already angered by the constant inva- 
sions of their territory by the hunters of Virginia and Carolina, 
and easily accessible by the lakes, were soon enlisted on the 
side of England ; and had a Pontiac been alive to lead them, 
might have done much mischief. As it was, during the sum- 
mer of 1776, their straggling parties so filled the woods of 
Kentucky, that no one outside of a fort felt safe. 

[Amongst other emigrants, the opening of spring brought to 
the country, were Colonel Richard Callaway (an intimate 
friend of Daniel Boone) and his family. 

"On the 14th of July, Betsey Callaway, her sister Frances, 
and Jemima Boone, the two last about fourteen years of age, 
carelessly crossed the river opposite Boonesborough, in a ca- 
noe, at a late hour in the afternoon. The trees and shrubs on 
the opposite bank were thick, and came down to the water's 
edge ; the girls, unconscious of danger, were playing and 
splashing the water with the paddles, until the canoe, float- 
ing with the current, drifted near the shore. Five stout Indians 
lay there concealed, one of whom, noiseless and stealthy as 
the serpent, crawled down the bank until he reached the rope 
that hung from the bow, turned its course up the stream, and 
in a direction to be hidden from the view of the fort. The 
loud shrieks of the captured girls were heard, but too late for 
their rescue. The canoe, their only means of crossing, was 
on the opposite shore, and none dared to risk the chance of 
swimming the river, under the impression that a large 
body of savages was concealed in the woods. Boone and 
Callaway were both absent, and night set in before their 
return and arrangements could be made for pursuit." We sub- 
join the narrative of Colonel Floyd, who was one of the party, 
remarking that this story was narrated to the writer by one of 
the captured party, in 1818, in terms substantially the same.] 

Colonel Floyd says: "Next morning, by day-light, we Avere 
on their track ; but they had entirely prevented our following 
them, by walking some distance apart through the thickest 
cane they could find. We observed their course, and on 
which side they had left their sign — and traveled upwards of 
thirty miles. We then supposed they would be less cautious 
in traveling, and made a turn to cross their trace ; we had 
gone but a few miles when we found their tracks in a buffalo 
path — pursued and overtook them in going about ten miles, 

•Jeffeiaon'fl Writings, vol. i. p. 456. 



1776. George Rogers Clark. 171 

just as they were kindling a fire to cook. Our study had 
been how to get the prisoners, without giving the Indians 
time to murder them after they discovered us. We saw each 
other nearly at the same time. Four of us fired, and all rush- 
ed on them, hy which they were prevented from carrying 
anything away except one shot gun, without any ammunition. 
Mr. Boone and myself had each a pretty fair shot, as they be- 
gan to move off*. I am well convinced I shot one through the 
body. The one he shot dropped his gun — mine had none. 
The place was covered thick with cane, and being so much 
elated on recovering the three poor little heart-broken girls, 
we were prevented from making any further search. We sent 
the Indians off" without their moccasins, and not one of them 
with so much as a knife or tomahawk."* 

[Mr. Butler justly remarks, on this incident, "These are 
the unembellished circumstances of a transaction, which a 
lively and most interesting writer [Mr. Flint] has, through mis- 
information, historically disfigured into a beautiful romance." 
We add, that the romantic incidents told by Mr. Flint, and the 
oath sworn by Boone, and administered to his followers, are 
wholly fictitious f] 

But it was not destined that Kentucky should sink under 
her trials. It was during this very summer of 1776, indeed, 
that the corner-stone of her prosperity was laid, and the first 
step taken toward making her an independent commonwealth. 

This was done by George Rogers Clark, truly her founder^ 
and the most eminent of the early heroes of the West. He 
was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle county, Vir- 
ginia.J In early life, he had been, like Washington, a sur- 
veyor, and more lately had served in Dunmore's war. He 
first visited Kentucky in 1775,§ and held, apparently, at that 
time, the rank of major. Returning to Virginia, in the au- 
tumn of 1775, he prepared to move permanently to the West, 
in the following spring. Having done this early in 1776, 
Clark, whose views reached much farther than those of most 
of the Pioneers, set himself seriously to consider the condition 

* Life of Boone, in Sparks' American Biography, xxiii. 59, 60 — Butler's Kentucky, 
pages 32, 33. 

t Flint's Life of Boone, p. 89. 

X Clark's papers, in possession of L. C. Draper, in his own writing, give this date. 

2 He was west of the mountains in 1772, as far as the Kanawha at least; see journal of 
Rev. David Jones in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 245. In 1774, he was on his way to 
Kentucky when Dunmore's war broke out. See ante. 



172 Protection of Virginia Invoked. 1776. 

and prospects of the young republic to which he had attached 
himself. Its advantages were too obvious to escape any eye; 
but the dangers of a colony, so far beyond the old lines of civ- 
ilization, and unconnected with any of the elder provinces, 
while at the same time the title to it was in dispute, had not 
impressed all minds as they should. Clark knew that Vir- 
ginia entirely denied the purchase of Henderson ; he was 
sure, also, that the Virginia settlers would never be easy under 
a proprietary government, however founded ; and saw al- 
ready, with his quick eye, wide-spread dissatisfaction. One of 
two things he deemed the frontier settlements must be, either 
an acknowledged portion of Virginia,* and to be by her 
aided in their struggles, — or an independent commonwealth. 
These views had been partially formed in 1775, probably, 
for we find that by June 6th, 1776, they had attained suf- 
ficient currency to cause the gathering of a general meeting 
at Harrodsburg, to bring matters to an issue, Clark was not 
present at the commencement of the meeting. Had he been, 
there is reason to think, he would have procured the election 
of envoys authorised to lay the whole business before the As- 
sembly of Virginia, and ask the admittance of Kentucky, by 
itself, into the number of her counties. As it was, he and Ga- 
briel Jones were chosen members of the Virginia Assembly, 
and a petition was prepared to be laid before that body. 

[The following is the substance : They stated they had be- 
come adventurers in the country from the advantageous re- 
ports of their friends who had explored it ; — that they expect- 
ed to obtain land in fee simple by an indefeasible title ; — that 
the proprietors had advanced the price of the purchase money 
from twenty shillings to fifty shillings sterling per hundred 
acres, and "increased the fees of entry and surveying to an ex- 
orbitant price; that they had heard the lands bought of the Iro- 
quois Indians at Fort Stanwix in 1708, included that part of 
Kentucky, and, therefore, doubted the validity of the purchase 
of the proprietors made from the Cherokees ; — and they ask 
to be taken under the protection of the colony of Virginia, 
and that measures might be adopted to restore peace and har- 
mony to the settlement. And they add, "If your honors ap- 
prehend that our case comes more properly before the honor- 

* So farFincaatlc county had been held to include Kentucky, but the inhabitants had no 
rights or protections as citizens of Virginia. Marshall, i. -17. 



1776. Supplies of Powder Granted. 173 

able, the General Congress, that you in your goodness recom- 
mend the same to your worthy delegates to espouse it as the 
cause of the Colony." This petition was signed by James 
Harrod and eighty-seven other men.*] 

Clark knew perfectly well that the Legislature of his native 
State would not acknowledge the validity of the election of 
Delegates from the frontiers, but hoping, nevertheless, to effect 
his object, he and his companion took the southern route by the 
Cumberland Gap, and after suffering agonies from "scald 
feet," at length reached their destination only to learn that 
the Assembly had adjourned. This, of course, caused a delay 
in part of their proceedings, but the keen-witted soldier saw, 
that, before the Legislature met again, he might, by proper 
.steps, effect much that he wished to ; he lost no time, there- 
fore, in waiting upon Patrick Henry, then Governor, and, ex- 
plaining to him the capabilities, the dangers, the wishes 
and the necessities of the settlers in the far west, — asked for a 
supply of the first necessary of life, gunpowder. The Gover-' 
nor listened patiently and gave Clark a favorable letter to the 
Executive Council, being himself sick and unable to go with 
him to Williamsburg, the seat of government at that time. 
But the Council were very cautious, and while they would 
lend the powder, if Clark would be answerable for it, and pay 
for its transportation, they dared not, until the Assembly had 
recognized the Kentucky stations as within Virginia, do more. 
Clark presented, and again presented the impossibility of his 
conveying the powder to so great a distance, through a coun- 
try swarming with foes. The Council listened patiently, but 
dared not run any risk. An order was issued for the pow- 
der on the terms proposed, but the inflexible pioneer would 
have none of it, and inclosing the order again to the Council 
told them that, since Virginia would not aid her children, they 
must look elsewhere, — that a land not worth defending, was 
not worth claiming, of course, — and so he bade them good- 
bye. These intimations were not to be overlooked, the 
whole matter was again weighed in the Council, and probably 
the Governor's advice taken, after which, upon the 23d of 
August, an order was issued for placing the ammunition re- 
quired at Pittsburgh, subject to Major Clark's order, for the 
use of the inhabitants of "Kentucki."f 

* See Hall's Sketches, ii. p. 236, f Butler, second edition, 4SS, gives the order. 



174 County of Kentucky Created. 1776. 

One of his objects being thus in the main accomplished, 
Clark prepared himself to urge the suit of the Transylvania 
colonists before the Le^dslature, when it should meet in the 
fall, having first written to his friends at the west that powder 
was waiting them at Pittsburgh, which they must manage to 
get down the river. When the Assembly met, Messrs. Clark 
and Jones on the one hand, and Henderson and his friends on 
the other, proceeded to lay before it the whole question of 
proprietorship in the Kentucky purchase from the Cherokees. 
The contest must have been one of considerable severity, for 
it was not till December 7, 1776,* that the success of the Del- 
egates appointed in June was made certain by the erection 
of the region in dispute, together with all that now forms 
the State of Kentucky, into a county of that name. His 
second great aim secured, (and he probably considered it so 
before the actual passage of the above law,) Clark and his as- 
sociate were on the point of returning at once to the frontier 
by the southern route, as we presume, when they fortunately- 
heard that their gunpowder was still at Pittsburgh. The 
truth was, that Clark's letter to his western friends had mis- 
carried. At once the envoys determined to go back by way of 
the Ohio, and see their five hundred pounds of ammunition 
safe to the stations themselves. When they reached Pitts- 
burgh they learned that many Indians, it was thought with 
hostile intentions, were lurking thereabouts, who would pro- 
bably follow them down the river ; but no time was to be lost, 
no matter what dangers threatened, so with seven boatmen 
the two Delegates embarked upon the Ohio, and succeeded in 
reaching safely Limestone Creek, where Maysville has been 
since built. Setting their boat adrift, lest it should attract 
attention, they concealed their treasure, as they best could, 
along the banks of the Creek, and started for Harrodsburg to 
procure a convoy. On the way they heard of Colonel Todd 
as being in the neighborhood with a band of men ; Jones and 
five of the boatmen remained to join this party and return 
with it for the powder, while Clark and the other two pushed 
forward to the Kentucky. Jones and Todd, having met, 
turned their steps towards the Ohio, but were suddenly 
attacked on the 25th of December, near the Blue Licks, by a 
party of natives who had struck Clark's trail. Mere defeated, 

* Morehead's Address, 56. — Butler says December 6th, in Chronology, p. 27. 



1776. Situation of the Country. 175 

and Jones with two others were killed.* Clark, however, 
reached Harrodsburg in safety, and a party was sent thence 
which brought the gunpowder to the forts. 

The year 1776 might be said to have passed without any 
serious injury to the colonists from the various Indian tribes, 
although it was clear, that those tribes were to be looked on 
as engaged in the war, and that the majority of them were 
with the mother country. Through the West and North-west, 
where the agents of England could act to the greatest advan- 
tage, dissatisfaction spread rapidly. The nations nearest 
the Americans found themselves pressed upon and harrassed 
by the more distant bands, and through the whole winter of 
1776-7, rumors were flying along the frontiers of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, of coming troubles. Nor were the good 
people of New York less disturbed in their minds, the settlers 
upon the Mohawk and upper Susquehanna standing in con- 
tinual dread of incursion. f No incursion, however, took 
place during the winter or spring of 1777 ; though the 
blow was delayed, why, we cannot well know, until Great 
Britain has magnanimity enough to unveil her past acts, and, 
acknowledging her follies and sins, to show the world the 
various steps to that union of the savages against her foes, 
which her noble Chatham denounced as a *' disgrace," and 
*'deep and deadly sin." 

That blow was delayed, however; and, alas ! was struck, 
at length, after, and, as if in retaliation for one of those vio- 
lent acts of wrong, which must at times be expected from 
a frontier people. We refer to the murder of Cornstalk, 
the leading chieftain of the Scioto Shawanese ; a man, whose 
energy, courage and good sense, place him among the very 
foremost of the native heroes of this land.J This truly great 
man, who was himself for peace, but who found all his neigh- 
bors, and even those of his own tribe, stirred up to war b}^ the 
agents of England, went over to the American fort at Point 
Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, in order to talk 
the matter over with Captain Arbuckle, who commanded 
there, and with whom he was acquainted. This was early 
In the summer of 1777. The Americans, knowing the Shaw- 
anese to be inclining to the enemy, thought it would be a 

*Clark'3 Journal in Morehead, 161. Also Clark's Account in Dillon's Indiana, 123 to 130. 
■{"See Stone, vol, i. p. 191. — Doddridge's Indian Wars, &c. 
JJouraal of tKo Old Congress. — Stone, ic 



176 Treacherous Murder of Hostages. 1777. 

good plan to retain Cornstalk and Redhawk, a younger chief 
of note, who was with him, and make them hostages for the 
good conduct of their people. The old warrior, accordingly, 
after he had finished his statement of the position he was in, 
and the necessity under which he and his friends would be of 
•'going with the stream," unless the Long-Knives could pro- 
tect them, found that, in seeking counsel and safety, he had 
walked into a trap, and was fast there. However, he folded 
his arms, and, with Indian calmness, waited the issue. The 
day went by. The next morning came, and from the opposite 
shore was heard an Indian hail, known to be from Ellinipsco, 
the son of Cornstalk. The Americans brought him also into 
their toils as a hostage, and were thankful that they had thus 
secured to themselves peace; — as if iniquity and deception 
ever secured that first condition of all good ! Another day 
rolled by, and the three captives sat waiting what time would 
bring. On the third day, two savages, who were unknown to 
the whites, shot one of the white hunters toward evening. 
Instantly the dead man's comrades raised the cry, "Kill the 
red dogs in the fort." Arbuckle tried to stop them, but tbey 
were men of blood, and their wrath was up. The Captain's 
own life was threatened if he offered any hindrance. They 
rushed to the house where the captives were confined ; Corn- 
stalk met them at the door, and fell, pierced with seven bul- 
lets; his son and Redhawk died also, less calmly than their 
veteran companion, and more painfully. From that hour 
peace was not to be hoped for.* 

But this treachery, closed by murder, on the part of the 
Americans, in no degree caused, or excuses the after-steps of 
the British agents; for almost at the moment when Cornstalk 
was dying upon the banks of the Ohio, there was a Congress 
gathering at Oswego, under the eye of Colonel Johnson, " to 
eat the llesh and drink the blood of a Bostonian;" in other 
words, to arrange finally the measures which should be taken 
against the devoted rebels by Christian brethren and their 
heathen allies. f 

In Kentucky, meanwhile, Indian hostilities had been un- 
ceasing. 

[Colonel Clark in his Diary gives various details, but our 
space will not permit more than a brief abstract. 

*Doddridgc, 237.-^1111013' Border Warfure, 151. tSton«, vol. i. p. 1S6. 



1777. Javies Ray. 177 

On the 6th of March, Thomas Stores and William Ray 
were killed at the Shawanee Spring. On the 28th, a large 
party of Indians attacked persons outside the fort and 
killed several. On the 7th of April, forty or fifty Indians at- 
tacked Boonesborough, killed and scalped Daniel Goodman, 
and wounded several persons. During all of the summer 
months the Indians were troublesome, attacked the forts, and 
not a week passed without loss of life.*] 

At times, the stations were assailed by large bodies of sav- 
ages ; at times, single settlers were picked off by single skulk- 
ing foes. The horses and cattle were driven away ; the corn 
fields remained uncultivated; the numbers of the whites be- 
came fewer and fewer, and from the older settlements little 
or no aid came to the frontier stations, until Col. Bowman, in 
August, 1777, came from Virginia with one hundred men. It 
was a time of suffering and distress through all the colonies, 
which was in most of them bravely borne ; but none suffered 
more, or showed more courage and fortitude, than the settlers 
of the West. Their conduct has excited less admiration oat 
of their own section than that of Marion, and men like him, 
because their struggles had less apparent connection with the 
great cause of American independence. But, who shall say, 
what would have become of the resistance of the colonies, 
had England been able to pour from Canada her troops upon 
the rear of the rebels, assisted, as she would have been, by 
all the Indian nations? It may have been the contests before 
the stations of Kentucky, and Clark's bold incursions into Illi- 
linois and against Vincennes, which turned the oft-tottering 
fortunes of the great struggle. 

But, however we may think on this point, we cannot doubt 
the picturesque and touching character of many incidents of 
western history during the years from 1777 to 1780. Time 
has not yet so mellowed their features as to give them an air 
of romance precisely ; but the essence of romance is in them. 
In illustration, we wilj mention one or two of these incidents, 
familiar enough in the West, but still worthy of repetition. 

One of the eminent men of Kentucky, in those and later 
times, was General James Ray. While yet a boy, he had 
proved himself able to outrun the best of the Indian warriors; 
and it was when but seventeen years of age, that he performed 

*See Clark's Diary in Morehead's Address, p. 162. 



A 



178 Benjamin Logan. 1777. 

the service for a distressed garrison, of which we are about 
to speak. It was the winter of 1776-7, a winter of starva- 
tion. Ray lived at Harrodsburg, which, like the other sta- 
tions, was destitute of corn. There was game enough in the 
woods around, but there were also Indians, more than enough, 
and had the sound of a gun been heard in the neighborhood 
of a station, it would have insured the death of the one who 
discharged it. Under these circumstances, Ray resolved to 
hunt at a distance. There was one horse left of a drove of 
forty, which Major McGary had brought to the West ; an old 
horse, faithful and strong, but not fitted to run the gauntlet 
through the forest. Ray took this solitary nag, and before 
day-dawn, day by day, and week by week, rode noiselessly 
along the runs and rivers until he was far enough to hunt with 
safety ; then he killed his game, and by night, or in the dusk 
of the evening, retraced his steps. And thus the garrison 
lived by the daring labors of this stripling of seventeen. Older 
hunters tried his plan, and were discovered; but he, by his 
sagacity, boldness, care and skill, safely pursued his disinter- 
ested and dangerous employment, and succeeded in constantly 
avoiding the perils that beset him. We do not think that 
Boone, or any one, ever showed more perfectly the qualities 
of a superior woodsman than did Ray through that winter. 

If any one did, however, it was surely Benjamin Logan, in 
the spring of that same year. Logan, as we have seen, 
crossed the mountains with Henderson, in 1775, and was of 
course one of the oldest settlers. In JMay, 1777, the fort at 
which Logan lived, was surrounded by Indians, more than a 
hundred in number; and so silently had they made their ap- 
proach, that the first notice which the garrison had of their 
presence was a discharge of firearms upon some men who 
were guarding the women as they milked the cows outside 
the station. One was killed, a second mortally wounded, 
and a third, named Harrison, disabled. This poor man, una- 
ble to aid himself, lay in sight of the firt, where his wife, 
who saw his condition, was begging some one to go to his 
relief. But to attempt such a thing seemed madness ; for 
whoever ventured from either side into the open ground, 
where Harrison lay MTithing and groaning, would instantly 
become a target for all the sharp-shooters of the opposite 
party. For some moments Logan stood it pretty well ; he 



1777. Benjamin Logan. 179 

tried to persuade himself, and the poor woman, who was 
pleading to him, that his duty required him to remain within 
the walls and let the savages complete their bloody work. 
But such a heart as his was too warm to be long restrained by 
arguments and judicious expediency ; and suddenly, turning 
to his men, he cried, *'Come, boys, who's the man to help me 
in with Harrison?" There were brave men there, but to run 
into certain death in order to save a man, whom, after all, 
they could not save, — it was asking too much ; and all shook 
their heads and shrunk back from the mad proposal. "Not 
one ! not one of you help a poor fellow to save his scalp ? " 
"Why, what's the good. Captain? to let the red rascals kill 
us won't help Harrison?" At last, one, half inspired by Lo- 
gan's impetuous courage, agreed to go ; he could die but once, 
he said, and was about as ready then, as he should ever be. 
The gate was slightly opened, and the two doomed men 
stepped out; instantly a tempest of rifle balls opened upon 
them, and Logan's companion rapidly reasoning himself into 
the belief that he was not so ready to die as he had believed, 
bolted back into the station. Not so his noble-hearted leader. 
Alone, through that tempest, he sprang forward to where the 
wounded man lay, and while his hat, hunting-shirt, and hair 
were cut and torn by the ceaseless shower, he lifted his com- 
rade like a child in his arms, and regained the fort without a 
scratch. 

But this rescue of a fellow-being, though worthy of record 
in immortal verse, was nothing compared with what this same 
Benjamin Logan did soon after. The Indians continued their 
siege ; still they made no impression, but the garrison were 
running short of powder and ball, and none could be procur- 
ed except by crossing the mountains. To do this, the neigh- 
boring forest must be passed, thronging with Indians, and a 
journey of some hundreds of miles accomplished, along a path, 
every portion of which might be waylaid, and at least the fort 
must be re-entered with the articles so much needed Surely, 
if ever an enterprise seemed hopeless, it was this one, and 
yet the thing must be tried. Logan pondered the matter 
carefully ; he calculated the distance, not less than four hun- 
dred miles and back ; he estimated the aid from other quar- 
ters ; and in the silence of night asked wisdom and guidance 
from God. Nor did he ask in vain ; wisdom was given him. 



180 Benjamin Logan. 1777. 

At night, with two picked companions, he stole from the sta- 
tion, every breath hushed. The summer leaves were thick 
above them, and with the profoundest care and skill, Logan 
guided his followers from tree to tree, from run to run, unseen 
by the savages, who dreamed not, probably, of so dangerous 
an undertaking- Quickly, but most cautiously, pushing east- 
ward, walking forty or fifty miles a day, the three woodsmen 
passed onward till the Cumberland range was in sight ; then, 
avoiding the Clap, which they supposed would be watched 
by Indians, over those rugged hills, where man had never 
climbed before, the}' forced their way with untiring energy 
and a rapidity to us, degenerate as we are, inconceivable. 
The mountains crossed, and the valley of theHolston reached, 
Logan procured his ammunition, and then turned alone on 
his homeward track, leaving his two companions, with full 
directions, to follow him more slowly with the lead and pow- 
der. He returned before them, because he wished to revive 
the hopes of his little garrison in the wilderness, numbering, 
as it did, in his absence, only ten men, and they without the 
means of defence. lie feared they would yield, if he delayed 
an hour; so, back, like a chamois, he sped, over those broken 
and precipitous ranges, and actually reached and re-entered 
his fort in ten days from the time he left it, safe and full of 
hope. Such a spirit would have made even women dare and 
do every thing, and by his influence the siege was still resisted 
till the ammunition came safe to hand. From May till Septem- 
ber that little band was thus beset : then Colonel Bowman 
relieved them. In the midst of that summer, as George Rogers 
Clark's journal has it, ''Lieutenant Linn was married — great 
merriment!" This was at Harrodsburg, near by Logan's sta- 
tion. Such was the frontier life ! 

It was a trying year, 1777, for those little forts in the wil- 
derness. At the close of it, three settlements only existed in 
the interior. Harrodsburg, Boonesborough, and Logan's;"^ and, 
of these three, the whole military population was but one 
hundred and two in number ! 

Xor was it in Kentucky alone that the Indians were busy. 
Through the spring and summer constant attacks were made 
upon the settlements in the neigh])oihood of Wheeling. At this 
point, as we have already said, the Zanes had settled in 1770, 

*See Butler, Marshall, McClung, &c. 



1777. Indian Attack upon Fort Henry. 181 

and here, in 1774, Connolly, or the settlers, by his direction, had 
built a fort called Fort Fincastle,* the name of the western 
county of Virginia. In this a body of men was left by Lord 
Dunmore, when he made his treaty with the Shawanese,"!- and 
through the whole of 1775 and 1776 it was occupied by more or 
fewer soldiers; indeed, in those times all men were soldiers, and 
hostility from the Indians daily anticipated. This fort, in 1776, 
was called, in honor of the eloquent governor of Virginia, 
Fort Henry ,J and was the central point between Fort Pitt and 
the works at the mouth of Kanawha. In the early autumn 
of 1777, word from friendly Indians, perhaps the Christian 
Delawares, of the Muskingum, or perhaps from Isaac Zane, 
the brother of the Wheeling settlers,§ reached General Hand, 
who commanded at Fort Pitt, informing him that a large body 
of the north-western Indians was preparing to attack the 
posts of the Upper Ohio. This news was quickly spread 
abroad, and all were watching where the blow would come. 
On the evening of September 26, smoke was seen by those 
near Wheeling, down the river, and M^as supposed to proceed 
from the burning of the block-house at Grave Creek, and the 
people of the vicinity taking the alarm, betook themselves to 
the fort. Within its walls were forty-two fighting men, of 
various ages and gifts : These were well supplied with guns, 
both rifles and muskets, but had only a scanty supply of gun- 
powder, as the event proved. The night of the 26th passed 
without alarm, but when, very early upon the 27th, two men, 
who were sent out for horses, in order to alarm the settlements 
near by, had proceeded some distance from the fort, they met 
a party of six savages, by whom one of them was shot. The 
commandant of the post. Col. Shepherd, learning from the 
survivor that there were but six of the assailants, sent a party 
of fifteen men to see to them. These vvere«ufl"ered to march 
after the six, who seem to have been merely a decoy, until 
they were within the Indian lines, when, suddenly, in front, 
behind, and on every side, the painted warriors showed them- 
selves. The Httle band fought bravely against incalculable 

*George R. Clark is said to have planted it. (American Pioneer, ii. 303.) 

■("American Archives, 4th series, ii. 11 SO. 

J American Pioneer, ii. 301. 

§ Isaac Zane was with the Wyandots from the time he was nine years old, American 
State Papers, xvi, 93-121. 



182 Indians led by Simon Girty. 1777. 

odds, but of the fifteen, three only escaped, and they by means 
of the brush and logs which were in the corn field, where the 
skirmish took place. As soon as the position of the first band 
was seen at the fort, thirteen others rushed to their assistance, 
and shared their fate. Then, and it was not yet sunrise, the 
whole body of Indians, disposed in somewhat martial order, 
appeared regularly to invest the devoted fort. There w^ere 
nearly four hundred of them, and of the defenders but twelve 
men and boys; unless, indeed, we count women, than u-)iom, as 
we sliidl see, none were braver or calmer within the walls of that lit- 
tle fortress. 

The Indians were led by Simon Girty, who was acting as 
an ao-cnt for the British in the attempt to secure the aid of a 
part, at any rate, of the frontier men, in the Revolutionary 
struggle. 

Fort Henry stood immediately upon the bank of the Ohio, 
about a quarter of a mile above the mouth of Wheeling Creek; 
between it and the steep river hill, which every traveler in the 
West is acquainted with, were twenty or thirty log huts. 
When Girty, then, as we have said, led his red troops against 
the fort, he at once took possession of the houses of the vil- 
lage as a safe and ready-made line of attack, and from the 
window of one of the cabins called upon the little garrison 
to surrender to King George, and promised absolution to all 
who would do so. Col. Shepherd answered at once that they 
would neither desert nor yield ; and when Girty recommenced 
his eloquence, a shot from some impatient listener suddenly 
stopped his mouth. Then commenced the siege. It was just 
sunrise in the valley, through which the quiet river flowed as 
peacefully as if war was never known. A calm, warm, bright 
September day— one of those days most lovely among the 
many pleasant ones of a year in the Ohio valley. And from 
sunrise till noon, and from noon till night of that day, the 
hundreds of besiegers and units of besieged about and within 
Fort Henry, ceased not to load and discharge musket or rifle 
till it was too hot to hold. About noon the fire of the assail- 
ants slackened, and then, as powder was scarce in the fort, and 
it was remembered that a keg was concealed in the house of 
Ebenezer Zane, some sixty yards distant, it was determined to 
make an eflbrt to obtain it. When the question "Who will 
go ?" was proposed, however, so many competitors appeared 



1777. Elizabeth Zane. 183 

that time was wasted in adjusting claims to what was almost 
sure death. The rest of the story we must let Mr. George S. 
McKiernan, from whom we take our whole account nearly, 
tell in his own words: 

At this crisis, a young lady, the sister of Ebenezer and Silas 
Zane, came forward and desired that she might be permitted 
to execute the service. This proposition seemed so extrava- 
gant that it met with a peremptory refusal ; but she instantly 
renewed her petition in terms of redoubled earnestness, and 
all the remonstrances of the Colonel and her relatives failed 
to dissuade her from her heroic purpose. It was finally re- 
presented to her that either of the young men, on account of 
his superior fleetness and familiarity with scenes of danger, 
would be more likely than herself to do the work successfully. 
She replied that the danger which would attend the enter- 
prise was the identical reason that induced her to otier her 
services, for, as the garrison was very weak, no soldier's life 
should be placed in needless jeopard}^, and that, if she were to 
fall, the loss would not be felt. Her petition was ultimately 
granted, and the gate opened for her to pass out. The open- 
ing of the gate arrested the attention of several Indians who 
were straggling through the village. It was noticed that their 
eyes were upon her as she crossed the open space to reach her 
brother's house ; but seized, perhaps with a sudden freak of 
clemency, or believing that a woman's life was not worth a 
load of gunpowder, or influenced by some other unexplained 
motive, they permitted her to pass without molestation. 
When she reappeared with the powder in her arms, the In- 
dians suspecting, no doubt, the character of her burden, eleva- 
ted their firelocks and discharged a volley at her as she swiftly 
glided towards the gate ; but the balls flew wide of the mark 
and the fearless girl reached the fort in safety with her prize.* 

The allies of Britain, finding rifles powerless when used 
against well-built block-houses and pickets, determined upon 
trying an extemporary cannon, and having bound a hollow 
maple with chains, having bored a touch hole, and plugged up 
one end, they loaded it liberally and leveled it at the gate of 
the impregnable castle. It was now evening, and the disap- 
pointed Wyandots gathered about their artillery, longing to 
see its loading of stones open to them the door of the American 
citadel. The match was applied ; bursting into a thousand 
pieces, the cannon of Girty tore, maimed, and killed his 
copper-colored kinsfolk, but hurt no one elsc.j- 

*'See American Pioneer, vol. ii. p, 309. 

fTliis incident, and the heroic act of Elizabeth Zane, are placed by Withers in the sio"-c 
of Fort Henry in 1782, (Border Warfare, 263-264.) We follow the writer in the Pioneer 
who is represented as an accurate man ; Withers was not always so. 



184 Exploits of Maj. McColloch. 1777. 

During that night many of the assailants withdrew disheart- 
ened. On the morning of the 28th, fifteen men came from 
Cross Creek to the aid of Fort Henry, and forty-one from 
Short Creek. Of these all entered the fort except Major Mc- 
Colloch, the leader of the vShort Creek volunteers. He was 
separated from his men, and at the mercy of the natives, and 
here again we prefer to use the words of Mr. McKiernan: 

From the very commencement of the war, his reputation 
as an Indian hunter was as great, if not greater, than that of 
any white man on the north-western border. He had parti- 
cipated in so many rencounters that almost every warrior 
possessed a knowledge of his person. Among the Indians his 
name was a word of terror ; they cherished against him feel- 
ings of the most phrenzied hatred, and there was not a Mingo 
or Wyandot chief before Fort Henry who would not have 
given the lives of twenty of his warriors to secure to himself 
the living body of Major McColloch. When, therefore, the 
man, whom they had long marked out as the first object of 
their vengeance, appeared in their midst, they made almost 
superhuman efforts to acquire possession of his person. The 
fleetness of McColloch's well-trained steed was scarcely greater 
than that of his enemies, who, with flying strides, moved on 
in pursuit. At length the hunter reached the top of the hill, 
and, turning to the left, darted along the ridge with the inten- 
tion of making the best of his way to Short Creek. A ride of 
a few hundred yards in that direction brought him suddenly in 
contact with a party of Indians who were returning to their 
camp from a marauding excursion to Mason's Bottom, on the 
eastern side of the hill. This party, being too formidable in 
numbers to encounter single-handed, the Major turned his 
horse about and rode over his own trace, in the hope of dis- 
covering some other avenue to escape. A few paces only of 
his countermarch had been made, when he found himself con- 
fronted by his original pursuers, uho had, by this time, gained 
the top of the ridge, and a third party was discovered press- 
ing up the hill directly on his right. He was now completely 
hem.med in on three sides, and the fourth was almost a perpen- 
dicular precipice of one hundred and fifty feet descent, with 
Wheeling Creek at its base. The imminence of his danger 
allowed him but little time to reflect upon his situation. In 
an instant he decided upon his course. Supporting his rifle 
in his left hand and carefully adjusting his reins with the 
otlur, he urged his horse to the brink of the blulf, and then 
made the leap which decided his fate. In the next moment 
the noble steed, still bearing his intrepid rider in safety, was at 
the foot of the precipice. McColloch immediately dashed 
across the creek, and was soon beyond the reach of the Indians.* 

* American Pioneer, vol. ii. p. 312. 



1777. Captain Joseph Ogle. 185 

Finding all attempts to take the fort fruitless, the Indians 
killed all the stock, including more than three hundred cattle, 
burned houses and fences, and destroyed every article of 
furniture. 

Of the forty-two men who had been in the fort, twenty-five 
were killed, all outside of the walls; of the savages, probably 
one hundred perished.* 

[The Zanes, and a number of other families, came from the 
South branch of the Potomac, and located themselves on the 
site of Wheeling, in 1769. Of the number were Capt. Joseph 
Ogle and his brother Jacob Ogle. The latter was mortally 
wounded in the siege of Fort Henry, and the former, with 
twelve men, went out to the rescue of Captain Mason, who 
had been dispatched with fourteen men, by Colonel Shepherd, 
to drive the Indians from the corn-field, where they were 
secreted. 

The self-devoted band under Captain Ogle, in their eager- 
ness to relieve their fellow-soldiers under Mason, fell into an 
ambuscade, and two-thirds of their number were slain on the 
spot. The fort now contained but thirteen men and boys, 
with a large number of women and children, when Girty and 
his four hundred Indians entered the village and called on them 
to surrender. Captain Ogle escaped in the brush wood, ran 
to the nearest settlement, rallied Major McColloch, and the 
men of Short Creek, and accompanied them next morning to 
the fort. In this manner the garrison was saved. 

Captain Ogle, in 1785, emigrated to the Illinois country, 
where he was one of its bravest defenders, and has left a 
numerous posterity. f 

As Simon Girty will figure in the Annals as a leader in the 
marauding enterprises of the Indians, and as a partisan of the 
British, it will be interesting to the reader to have some par- 
ticulars of his history and that of his family and associates. 
We copy from the life of Boone, in the Library of American, 
Biography, vol. xxiii. 

"Amongst the Indians north-west of the Ohio, were two 



* See Wither/ Border Warfare, 160. American Pioneer, ii. 302-31'l-339. Tha usual 
date of the attack is September 1. Mr. McKicrnaa gives good authority for his dates, 
which we follow. 

"I" How's Virginia, pp. 409—413. See Appendix, Illinois. 

12 



186 Tlie Girty Fainily. 1777. 

M hite men of the names of McKee and Girty, whose agency 
and influence w^re most disastrous to the frontier settlements. 
Colonel McKce was the official agent of the British govern- 
ment, and obtained great influence over the tribes of the 
north-west, and had an infamous notoriety for the atrocities 
committed under his sanction, and the success of his intrigues. 
His name must ever remain associated with the darkest deeds 
recorded in the annals of the West. Doubtless, the barbari- 
ties committed on the defenceless inhabitants, and even on 
prisoners in his presence and by his sanction, have been ex- 
uggerated by rumor, and magnifled by the resentment of those 
who have suffered by his cruelties ; yet enough appears of 
known official conduct, attested by American officers of high 
station, and by witnesses of unimpeachable character, to blast 
his reputation, and cause his name to be held in abhorrence." 

Simon Girty was a native of Penn.sylvania, a soldier and 
spy under Lord Dunmore, and a companion of Simon Kenton 
in the campaign of 1774. He had three brothers, George, 
James and Thomas. Girty, their father, was an emigrant 
from Ireland, and settled in Pennsylvania, where he be- 
came idle, thriftless, and intemperate. He was killed by In- 
dians, according to some accounts, but according to others, by 
his wife's seducer, who subsequent]}' married her. In 1755, 
their home was attacked by the Indians, burnt, and tlie whole 
family taken prisoners. The husband and step-father was 
burnt at the stake in their presence, and the mother and four 
brothers scattered among the north-western tribes. 

Thomas made his escape, fell in with General Armstrong, 
and got back to Western Pennsylvania, where he settled and 
lived a worthy citizen to the close of his life, which took place 
in 1820, in the ninetieth year of his age. 

George was adopted by the Delawares, and lived with them 
until his death. Ho became a perfect savage, and to consum- 
mate cunning he added fearless intrepidity. He fought in the 
battles of Point Pleasant, Blue Licks and Sandusky. He was 
beastly intemperate in the latter part of his life, and died 
about 1S18, on the Maumee of the Lake. 

James fell into the hands of the Shawanese, who adopted 
him as a son, and trained him in all the arts of savage war- 
fare. His repeated visits to Kentucky as the leader of ma- 
rauding parties, were a terrible scourge to the people, for he 
w^as bloodthirsty, cruel, ferocious and hard-hearted. Many 
of his barbarous deeds were attributed to his brother Simon. 



1777. Exploits of Simon Girty. 187 

Yet this monster was caressed by Elliott and Proctor in the 
war of 1812. 

The family were exchanged in 1758, at Gen. Forbes' treaty, 
but only the mother and Simon returned. 

Simon had been adopted by the Senecas, and became an ex- 
pert hunter, and after his return, was for a time in Western 
Pennsylvania. He left that region at the commencement of 
the Revolutionary war, being a decided tory. He joined the 
Indians and often led their marauding parties. His residence 
was at Sandusky, where he kept a trading-house. Here he 
witnessed the burning of Colonel Crawford, and there is some 
evidence, that he made an unsuccessful effort to save his life. 

Here he saved the life of Simon Kenton, after he was tied 
to the stake, for they were fellow soldiers in Dunmore's war, 
and "shared the same blanket." His friendship to the Indians 
and British, and his hatred to the United States, continued 
through life. 

When intoxicated, which was frequent, he was violent and 
abusive, and spared neither friend or foe. During the last 
ten years of his life he suffered much from rheumatism. He 
was in the war of 1812, was at Proctor's defeat on the river 
Thames, and was killed by Col. Johnson's mounted men."* 

* American Pioneer, ii. 302--314. Incidents of Border Life, p. 133. Howe's Virginia, 
pp. 409-413. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CONdUEST OF ILLINOIS. 

Proposition of Col. Clark to the GoTcrnor of Virginia — Private instructions by the Council 
— liaises troops in the West — Expedition to the Illinois country — Kaskaskia and Caho- 
kia taken — Post Vincent surrendered — Indian Treaties — Vincennes retaken by Colonel 
Uamilton — Col. Clark's Expedition to Vincennes and success — Hamilton a prisoner and 
sent to Virginia — The results to the United States. 

But, notwithstanding the dangers and difficulties which sur- 
rounded them during 1777, the pioneers of the West held 
steadily to their purposes, and those of Kentucky being now 
a component part of the citizens of A^irginia, proceeded to 
exercise their civil privileges, and, in April, elected John Todd 
and Richard Callaway, burgesses to represent them in the As- 
sembly of the parent State. Early in the following Septem- 
ber, the first court was held at Harrodsburg; and Col. Bowman, 
who, as we have mentioned, had arrived from the settlements 
in August, was placed at the head of a regular military organi- 
zation which had been commenced the March previous. Thus, 
within herself, feeble as she was, Kentucky was organizing ; 
and George Rogers Clark, her chief spirit, he that had repre- 
sented her beyond the mountains the year before, was medi- 
tating another trip to Williamsburg, for the purpose of urging 
a bolder and more decided measure than any yet proposed. 
He understood the whole game of the British. He saw that 
it was through their possession of Detroit, Vincennes, Kas- 
kaskia, and the other western posts — which gave them easy 
and constant access to the Indian tribes of the north-west — 
that the British hoped to eflcct such an union of the wild men 
as would annihilate the frontier fortresses. He knew that 
the Delawarcs were divided in feeling, and the Shawanese 
but imperfectly united in favor of England, ever since the 
murder of Cornstalk. He was convinced, that could the 
British in the north-west be defeated and expelled, the na- 
tives might be easily awed or bribed into neutrality ; and by 
spies sent for the purpose, and who Mere absent from April 



1777. Conquest of Illinois. 189 

20, to June 22d, he had satisfied himself that an enterprise 
against the Illinois settlements might easily succeed. Having 
made up his mind, on the 1st of October, he left Harrodsburg 
for the East, and reached the capital of Virginia, November 
the 5th. Opening his mind to no one, he watched with care 
the state of feeling among those in power, waiting the proper 
moment to present his scheme. Fortunately, while he was 
upon his road, on the 17th of October, Burgoyne had surren- 
dered, and hope was again predominant in the American 
councils. When, therefore, the Western soldier, upon the 
10th of December, broke the subject of his proposed expedi- 
tion against the forts on the far distant Mississippi, to Patrick 
Henry, who was still governor, he met with a favorable hear- 
ing ; and, though doubts and fears arose by degrees, yet so 
well digested were his plans, that he was able to meet each 
objection, and remove every seeming impossibility. Already 
the necessity of securing the western posts had been pre- 
sented to the consideration of Congress ; as early as April 29, 
1776, the committee on Indian Affairs were instructed to re- 
port upon the possibility of taking Detroit;* and, again, upon 
the 20th of November, 1777, a report was made to that body, 
in which this necessity was urged, and also the need that 
existed, of taking some measure to prevent the spirit of dis- 
affection from spreading among the frontier inhabitants. f 
Three Commissioners, also, were chosen to go to Fort Pitt, for 
the purpose of enquiring into the causes of the frontier dif- 
ficulties, and doing what could be done, to secure all the 
whites to the American cause, to cultivate the friendship of 
the Shawanese and Delawares, and to concert with General 
Hand, some measures for pushing the war westward, so as to 
obtain possession of Detroit and other posts. General Wash- 
ington was also requested to send Colonel William Crawford, 
an old pioneer, to take active command in the West ; and he 
accordingly left head quarters upon the 25th. All this ended 
in nothing, but it proved the correctness of Clark's views, and 
aided, we may suppose, in convincing those who ruled in the 
Ancient Dominion, that their glory and interest, as well as the 
safety of the whole frontier country, were deeply involved in 
the success of the bold plan of the founder of Kentucky. 

* Secret Journals, i. 43. 

t Old Journals, vol. ii. p. 340. 



190 Conquest of Illinois. 1777. 

[We purposely omit the annals of the earl3^ settlements of 
Illinois, that we may give them in consecutive order, with 
many facts in detail in our Appendix.] 

Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility 
of his plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of in- 
structions — the one open, authorising him to enlist seven com- 
panies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve 
for three months from their arrival in the West ; the other set 
secret, and drawn as follows : 

VIRGINIA: Set. L\ Council, Williamsburg, Jan. 2d., 177S. 
Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark : 

You are to proceed, with all convenient speed, to raise 
seven companies of soldiers, to consist of fifty men each, of- 
ficered in the usual manner, and armed most properly for the 
enterprize ; and with this force attack the British force at 
Kaskasky. 

It is conjectured, that there are many pieces of cannon and 
military stores, to considerable amount at that place ; the 
taking and preservation of which, would be a valuable ac- 
quisition to the State. If you are so fortunate, therefore, as 
to succeed in your expedition, you will take every possible 
measure to secure the artillery and stores, and whatever may 
advantage the State. 

For the transportation of the troops, provisions, &:c., down 
the Ohio, you are to apply to the commanding ollicer at Fort 
Pitt, for boats; and, during the whole transaction, you are to 
take especial care to keep the true destination of your force 
secret : its success depends upon this. Orders are, therefore, 
given to Capt. Smith to secure the two men from Kaskasky. 
Similar conduct will be proper in similar cases. 

It is earnestly desired that you show humanity to such 
British subjects, and other persons, as fall in your hands. If 
the white inhabitants at that post and neighborhood, will 
give undoubted evidence of their attachment to this State, 
(for it is certain they live within its limits.) by taking the test 
prescribed by law, and by every other way and means in their 
power, let them be treated as fellow-citizens, and their per- 
sons and property duly secured. Assistance and protection 
against all enemies whatever, shall be aflbrdcd them; and the 
Commonwealth of Virginia is pledged to accomplish it. But, 
if these people will not accede to these reasonable demands, 
they must feel the miseries of war, under the direction of that 
humanity that has hitherto distinguished Americans, and 
which, it is expected, you will ever consider as the rule of3'our 
conduct, and from which you are, in no instance, to depart. 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 191. 

The corps you are to command, are to receive the pay and 
allowance of militia, and to act under the laws and regula- 
tions of this State, now in force, as militia. The inhabitants 
at this post will be informed by you, that in case they accede 
to the olfers of becoming citizens of this Commonwealth, a 
proper garrison will be maintained among them, and every 
attention bestowed to render their commerce beneficial ; the 
fairest prospects being opened to the dominions of both France 
and Spain. 

It is in contemplation to establish a post near the mouth of 
the Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those 
at Kaskasky will be easily brought thither, or otherwise se- 
cured, as circumstances will make necessary. 

You are to apply to General Hand, at Pittsburgh, for pow- 
der and lead, necessary for this expedition. If he can't supply 
it, the person who has that which Captain Lynn brought from 
New Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my orders, 
and that may be delivered you. Wishing you success, I am. 
Sir, your humble servant,* P. HENRY. 

With these instructions, and twelve hundred pounds in the 
depreciated currency of the time. Colonel Clark, (for such was 
now his title,) on the 4th of February, started for Pittsburgh. 
It had been thought best to raise the troops needed, beyond 
the mountains, as the colonies were in want of all the soldiers 
they could muster east of the Alleghanies, to defend them- 
selves against the British forces. Clark, therefore, proposed 
to enlist men about Pittsburgh, while Major W. B. Smith, for 
the same purpose, went to the Plolston, and other officers to 
other points. None, however, succeeded as they hoped to ; 
at Pittsburgh, Clark found great opposition to the intention of 
carrying men away to defend the outposts in Kentucky, while 
their own citadel and the whole region about it, were threat- 
ened by the savage allies of (''ngland; and Smith, though 
he nominally succeeded in raising four companies, was unable, 
essentially, to aid his superior officer after all. With three 
companies and several private adventurers, Clark, at length, 
commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he navigated as 
far as the Falls, where he took possession of, and fortified, 
Corn Island, opposite to the spot now occupied by Louisville. 
At this place, he appointed Colonel Bowman to meet him with 
such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, 
and as many men as could be spared from the stations. Here 
also, he announced to the men, their real destination. 

*See Butler's History of Kentucky, p. 489. 



192 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

[lie was joined on Corn Island by Captain Bowman, and a 
company from Kentucky, under Captain Dillard. IILs prin- 
cipal officers were Captains Bowman, Helm, llarrod, Mont- 
gomery and Dillard ; and he daily expected a reinforcement 
from the Ilolston country, under Major Smith, which failed. 
He now disclosed to his troops that their point of destination 
was Kaskaskia, in the Illinois country. The project met the 
enthusiastic approbation of his men, except the company 
from Kentucky under Captain Dillard; a large part of which, 
with the Lieutenant, on the morning appointed for starting, 
the worthy Captain had the mortification to find, had waded 
the river and deserted. They were pursued in the morning, 
overtaken in the woods, about twenty miles from the Falls, 
eight taken back, and the rest, wandered about in tlie woods 
for some weeks, where they suliered greater deprivations and 
hardships than their comrades who had gone on the expedi- 
tion, before they got shelter in a fort.*] 

Having waited until his arrangements were all completed, 
and those chosen, who were to be ot the invading party, on 
the 24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, with four 
companies he left his position and fell down the river. His 
plan was to follow the Ohio as far as the fort known as Fort 
Massac, and thence to go by laud direct to Kaskaskia. His 
troops took no other baggage than they could carry in the In- 
dian fa.shion, and, for his success, he trusted entirely to sur- 
prise. If he failed, his plan was to cross the Mississippi, and 
throw himself into the Spanish settlements on the west of 
that river. Before he commenced his march, he received two 
pieces of information of which he made good use at the 
proper time, by means of which, he conquered the West with- 
out bloodshed. One of these important items was the alli- 
ance of France with the colonies; this, at once, made the 
American side popular with the French and Indians of Illinois 
and the lakes ; France having never lost her hold upon her 
ancient subjects and allies, and England having never secured 
their confidence. The other item was, that the inhabitants of 
Kaskaskia, and other old towns, had been led by the British 
to believe that the Long Knives, or Virginians, were the most 
fierce, cruel, and blood-thirsty savages that ever scalped a foe. 
With this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper 

*Clark'8 Journal— Butler's Kentucky, p. 49. 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 193 

management would readily dispose them to submit from fear, 
if surprised, and then to become friendly from gratitude, when 
treated with unlocked for clemency. 

[Near the mouth of the Tennessee river, he found John 
Dutr, with a party of hunters, who had recently come from 
Kaskaskia, and who could give him important information. 
They reported that M. Rocheblave was the commander; that 
the militia, (chiefly French citizens) were kept in good discip- 
line; that spies were stationed along the Mississippi ; that a 
rumor had reached Kaskaskia that the " Long-Knives " * had 
projected an attack, and that the hunters and Indians had re- 
ceived orders to keep watch, and report if any American 
troops were coming that way. The fort near the town was 
kept in order as a place of retreat if the village was attacked, 
but it had no regular garrison. The hunters oflered to return 
with Clark, and one John Saunders was employed as a guide. 

The party landed near the old site of Fort Massac, and se- 
cured their boats in the mouth of a small creek. Heavy 
rains had fallen, succeeded by hot, sultry weather. Their 
route lay through a wilderness without a path. Cypress 
swamps, ponds, and deep, muddy, sluggish streams had to be 
forded. Their success depended on a secret and rapid march 
through the woods and prairies. For most part of the route, 
the game on which they relied for subsistence was scarce, and 
to send out hunting parties would expose them to discovery. 
On the prairies, a July sun beat on them and water was 
scarce. The distance, as they traveled, was over one hundred 
miles. On the third day the guide got so bewildered that he 
could not direct their course. A suspicion arose amongst the 
men that he designed to betray them, and thoy earnestly de- 
manded that he should be put to death ! He begged that 
under a guard he might go a short distance into the prairie 
and try to find his course. In an hour or two, the poor fellow 
exclaimed, "I know that point of timber," and pointed out 
the direction of Kaskaskia. It was on the Fourth of July^ 
1778, that this party of invaders, with their garments torn 
and soiled, and their beards of three weeks' growth, ap- 
proached the town, and secreted themselves among the hills 
east of the Kaskaskia river. Clark sent forward his spies to 

*The Indians and French of Illinois, called the New Englandera " Bostonais," and the 
Virginians "Long-Knives." 



194 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

watch the proceedings of the people, and after dare put his 
troops in motion and took possession of a house, where a 
family lived, about three quarters of a mile above town. 
Here they found boats and canoes. The troops were divided 
into three parties, two of w^hich were ordered to cross the 
river, while the other, under the immediate command of Col. 
Clark, took possession of the Fort. 

Kaskaskia then contained about two hundred and fifty 
houses. Persons who could speak the French language, were 
ordered to pass through the streets and make proclamation, 
that all the inhabitants must keep within their houses, under 
penalty of being shot down in the streets. 

The few British officers, who had visited these French 
colonies since the commencement of the rebellion of their 
Atlantic colonies, as they termed the Revolution, had told 
the most exaggerated stories about the brutality and fero- 
city of the "Long-Knives;" — that they would not only take 
the property of the people, but would butcher, in a most 
horrible manner, men, women and children ! The policy of 
these stories was to excite in the minds of these simple- 
hearted French people the most fearful apprehensions against 
the colonists, that they might be watchful and be prepared 
for a determined resistance, should any attempt be made on 
these remote posts. These stories were a stimulus to the 
French traders to supply the Indians with guns, ammunition 
and scalping-knives, to aid their depredations on the settle- 
ments of Kentucky. 

Colonel Clark gained this intelligence irom the hunters, 
ahd in his Journal says, "I was determined to improve upon 
this, if I was fortunate enough to get them into my possession; 
as I conceived the greater the shock I could give them at 
first, the more sensibly would they feel my lenity, and become 
more valuable friends."* 

Few men have had a quicker and keener sagacity than 
Clark. His plan was to produce a terrible panic and then 
capture the town without bloodshed, and well did he succeed. 
The two parties, having crossed the river, entered the 
quiet and unsuspecting village at both extremes, yelling 
in the most furious manner, while those who made the procla- 
mation in French, ordered the people into their houses on pain 

*Clark'i Journal in Dillon's Indiana, i. p. 137. 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 195 

of instant death. In a moment, men, women and children 
were screaming, " /t 5 long Coutcaux ! — les long Coutcaux ! " 
the Long-Knives ! — the Long-Knives I 

In about two hours after the surprise of the town, the in- 
habitants had all surrendered and delivered up their arms to the 
conqueror. Not a drop of blood had been shed, though the vic- 
tory was complete. The whole management displayed in a 
most admirable manner, what the French style ruse de guerre^ 
the policy of war. M. Rocheblave, the Governor ,was taken in 
his chamber ; but his public papers and documents were ad- 
mirably concealed or destroyed by his wife. 

Throughout the night the Virginia troops were ordered to 
patrol the streets, with yells and whoopings after the Indian 
fashion, which, though exceedingly alarming to the conquered 
inhabitants, was a stratagem of Clark to accomplish his pur- 
poses. 

One of the richest and most distinguished citizens of Kas- 
kaskia at that period, was M. Cerre,said by Col. Clark to have 
been a most bitter enemy to the Americans. In this, probably, 
he was misinformed. None of the French families in Illi- 
nois were particularly friendly to the government of Great 
Britain. But, probably, M. Cerre had partaken of the feel- 
ings of his townsmen concerning the "Long-Knives." He 
had long been a successful trader, but had left the place be- 
fore the arrival of the Americans, and was then at St. Louis 
on his way to Quebec. 

The commander at once determined to bring him and all 
his influence to the side of the American interest. Accord- 
ingly he took possession of his house and extensive stock of 
merchandize and placed a guard over the property. Another 
stratagem was to prevent all intercourse between his own 
men and the citizens, and to admit none of the latter to his 
presence except by positive command for them to appear be- 
fore him ; or, apparently, in great condescension, when urgent- 
ly solicited, to grant audience to some humble petitioner. By 
this course of policy he contrived, at first, to confirm all the 
worst suspicions the British had instilled into the minds of the 
simple villagers, of the ferocity of the " Long -Knives," and, 
then, by undeceiving them to produce a revulsion of feelings, 
and gain their unlimited confidence. In this he was com- 
pletely successful. The town was in possession of an enemy, 



19G Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

the inhabitants had been taught were the most ferocious 
and brutal of all men, and of whom they entertained the 
most horrible apprehensions, and all intercourse was strictly 
prohibited between each other, and the conquerors. After 
five days the troops were removed to the outskirts of the 
town, and the citizens were permitted to walk in the streets. 
But finding them engaged in conversation, one with another, 
Col. Clark ordered some of the officers to be put in irons, 
without assigning a single reason, or permitting a word of 
defence. This singular display of despotic power in the con- 
queror, did not spring from a cruel dit^position, or a disregard 
to the principles of liberty, but it was the course of policy he 
bad marked out to gain his object. 

Of all commanders, perhaps. Col. Clark had the readiest 
and clearest insight into human nature. The eflect of this 
stretch of military power, at first, was to fill the inhabitants 
with consternation and dismay. 

After some time M. Gibault, the parish priest, got permis- 
sion to wait on Colonel Clark, with five or six elderly gentle- 
men. 

If the inhabitants of the town were filled with astonish- 
ment at the suddenness of their captivity, these men were far 
more astonished at the personal appearance of Clark and his 
soldiers. 

Their clothes were dirty and torn (for they had no change 
of apparel) — their beards of three and four weeks' growth, 
and, as Clark states in his Journal, they looked more frightful 
and disgusting than savages. 

Some minutes passed before the deputation could speak, 
and then they felt at a loss whom they should address as com- 
mandant, for they saw no dillerence in the personal appear- 
ance between the chieftain and his men. 

Finall}', the priest, in the most submissive tone and posture, 
remarked, that the inhabitants expected to be separated, per- 
haps never to meet again, and they begged through him, as a 
great favor from their conqueror, to be permitted to assemble 
in the church, offer up their prayers to God for their souls, and 
take leave of each other ! 

The commander observed, with apparent carelessness, that 
the Americans did not trouble themselves about the religion of 
others, but left every man to worship God as he pleased, that 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 197 

they might go to church if they wished, but on no account 
must a single person leave the town. All further conversa- 
tion was repelled, and they were sent away, rather abruptly 
that the alarm might be raised to the highest pitch. 

The whole population assembled in the church, as for the 
last time, mournfully chaunted their prayers, and bid each 
other farewell — never expecting to meet again in this world ! 
But so much did they regard this as a favor, that the priest 
and deputation returned from the church to the lodgings of 
Col. Clark, and in the name of the people expressed thanks 
for the indulgence they had received. They then begged 
leave to address their conqueror upon their separation and 
their lives. They claimed not to know the origin or nature 
of the contest between Great Britain and the colonies. What 
they had done had been in subjection to the British command- 
ers, whom they were constrained to obey. They were willing 
to submit to the loss of all their property as the fate of war, 
but they begged they might not be separated from their fami- 
lies, and that clothes and provisions might be allowed them 
barely sufficient for their present necessities. 

Col. Clark had now gained the object of his artful manoeu- 
vre. He saw their fears were raised to the highest pitch, and 
he abruptly thus addressed them : — 

" Who do you take me to be ? Do you think we are sav- 
ages — that we intend to massacre you all ? Do you think 
Americans will strip women and children, and take the bread 
out of their mouths ? My countrymen," said the gallant 
Colonel, " never make war upon the innocent! It was to 
protect our own wives and children that we have penetrated 
this wilderness, to subdue these British posts, from whence the 
savages are supplied with arms and ammunition to murder 
us. We do not war against Frenchmen. The King of 
France, your former master, is our ally. His ships and sol- 
diers are fighting for the Americans. The French are our 
firm friends. Go, and enjoy your religion and worship when 
you please. Retain your property — and now please to inform 
all your citizens from me that they are quite at liberty to con- 
duct themselves as usual, and dismiss all apprehensions of 
alarm. We are your friends, and come to deliver you from 
the British." 

This speech produced a revulsion of feelings better im- 



19S Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

gined than described. The news soon spread throughout the 
village, the bell rang a merry peal, the people, with the 
priest, again assembled in the church, Tc Dcum was loudly 
sung, and the most uproarious joy prevailed throughout the 
night. The people were now allowed all the liberty they 
could desire. All now cheerfully acknowledged Col. Clark 
as the commandant of the country. 

An expedition was now planned against Cahokia, and Maj. 
Bowman with his detachment, mounted on French ponies, 
was ordered to surprise that post. Several Kaskaskia gentle- 
men ofi'ered their services to proceed ahead, notify the Caho- 
kians of the change of government, and prepare them to give 
the Americans a cordial reception. The plan was entirely 
successful, and the post was subjugated without the disaster 
of a battle. Indeed, there were not a. dozen British soldiers 
in the garrison. 

In all their intercourse with the citizens. Col. Clark instructed 
his men to speak of a large army encamped at the Falls of 
the Ohio, which would soon overrun and subjugate all the 
British posts in the West, and that Post Vincent would be in- 
vaded by a detachment from this army. He soon learned 
from the French that Governor Abbott was gone to Detroit, 
and that the defence was left with the citizens, who were 
mostly French. INI. Gibault, the priest, readily undertook an 
embassy to the Post, and to bring over the people to the 
American interests without the trouble and expense of an in- 
vasion. This was also successful, and in a few days the 
American Flag was displayed on the fort, and Captain Helm 
appointed to the command, much to the surprise and conster- 
nation of the neighboring Indians. 

jNI. Gibault and party, with several gentlemen from Vin- 
cennea, returned to Kaskaskia about the first of August with 
the joyful intelligence. 

The reduction of these posts was the period of the enlist- 
ment of the men, and Colonel Clark was at a loss to know 
how to act, as his instructions were vague and general. To 
abandon the country now, was to loose the immense advan- 
tages gained, and the commander, never at a loss for expedi- 
ents, opened a new enlistment, and engaged his own men 
on a new establishment, and he issued commissions for 
French officers in the country to command a company of 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 199 

the inhabitants. He then established a garrison at Cahokia, 
commanded by Capt. Bowman ; and another at Kaskaskia, 
commanded by Capt. WilUams. Capt. William Linn took 
charge of a party that w^as to be discharged when they ar- 
rived at the Falls, (Louisville) and orders were sent to remove 
the station from Corn Island, and erect a fort on the main 
land, and a stockade fort was erected. 

Capt. John Montgomery, in charge of M. Rocheblavc, the 
late British commander, and as bearer of dispatches, was 
sent with a corps of men to Virginia. 

For the command of Post Vincent, he chose Capt. Leonard 
Helm, in whom he reposed great confidence. Capt. Helm 
had much knowledge and experience in Indian character, and 
Col. Clark appointed him agent for Indian affairs in the de- 
partment of the Wabash. About the middle of August, he 
went out to take possession of his new command. 

At that period, an Indian of the Piankashavv tribe that had 
their principal village near Vincennes, possessed great influ- 
ence among his people. He was known by the name of "Big 
Gate," or "Big Door," and called by the Indians, "The Grand 
Door to the Wabash," because nothing could be done by the 
Indian confederacy on the Wabash without his approbation. 
His father, who had been known as "Tobacco," or, more com- 
monly, "Old Tobac," sent him "a spirited compliment by 
Priest Gibault, who had influence with these Indians. Big Door 
returned it. Next followed a regular "talk," with a belt of 
wampum. 

Captain Helm arrived safe at Vincennes, and was received 
with acclamation by the people, and soon sent the "talk" and 
the wampum to the Grand Door. These Indians had been 
under British influence, and had done no small mischief to the 
frontier settlements. The proud and pompous chief was taken 
with the courtesy of the shrewd Captain, and sent him a mes- 
sage that he was glad to see one of the Big Knife chiefs 
in town ; that here he joined the English against the Bio- 
Knives, but he long thought they "looked a little gloomy;" 
that he must consult his counsellors, take time to deliberate 
and hoped the Captain of the Big Knives would be patient. 
After several days of very constant and ceremonious pro- 
ceedings, the Captain was invited to council by Old Tobac 
who played quite a subordinate part to his son. 



230 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

After the customary display of Indian eloquence, a])out the 
sky having been dark, and the clouds now had been brushed 
away, the Grand Door announced "that his ideas were quite 
changed" — and the "Big Knives was in the right," — "and that 
he would tell all the red people on the Wabash to bloody the 
land no more for the English." 

"He jumped up, struck his breast, called himself a man 
and a warrior, said that he was now a Big Knife, and took 
Capt. Helm by the hand. His example was followed by all 
present."* 

This was a most fortunate alliance, for, in a short time, all 
the tribes along the Wabash, as high as the Ouiatcnon, came 
to Post Vincennes and followed the example of the Great 
Door chief, and the interests of the British lost ground daily in 
all the villages south of lake Michigan, 

The French citizens at the different posts, enlisted warmly 
in the American cause. 

Captain Montgomery reached Williamsburg, then the seat 
of government in the "Old Dominion," with Mr. Rocheblave, 
the Gov(n-nor of Illinois, a prisoner of war, and the dispatches 
of Colonel Clark, announcing that the British posts were cap- 
tured, and the vast territory of the north-west subjugated. 
Only four persons had known the real destination of Clark 
when' he left the seat of government at the commencement 
of the year. These were the Governor, Patrick Henry, and 
his confidential counsellors, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe 
and George 3Iason. They had assumed a fearful responsi- 
bility in giving him private instructions, authorising an attack 
on these remote British posts. The degree of success was 
beyond the expectations of the most sanguine. 

In October, the House of Burgesses created the county of 
Illinois, and appointed John Todd, Esq., then of Kentucky, 
Lieutenant Colonel and Civil commandant. The act, which 
we have in manuscript, with the seal of the Commonwealth, 
contained the Ibllowing provisions : 

All the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, "who 
are already settled, or shall hereafter settle, on the iccslcrn 
side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county which 
shallbe called Illinois county : and the Governor of this Com- 
monwealth, with the advice of the Council, may appoint a 

* Journal of Clark, in Dillon's Indiana., p. l-t-t. 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 201 

county Lieutenant, or Commandant-in-chief, in that county, 
during pleasure, who shall appoint and commission so many 
deputy Commandants, militia and officers, and Commissaries, 
as he shall think proper, in the different districts, during plea- 
sure, all of whom, before they enter into office, shall take the 
oath of fidelity to this Commonwealth, and the oath of office, 
according to the form of their own religion. And all civil 
officers to which the inhabitants have been accustomed, neces- 
sary to the preservation of peace, and the administration of 
justice, shall be chosen by a majority of citizens in their res- 
pective districts, to be convened for that purpose, by the 
county Lieutenant or Commandant, or his deputy, and shall 
be commissioned by the said county Lieutenant, or Command- 
ant-in-chief, 

In November, the Legislature passed the following compli- 
mentary resolution to Clark and his men : 

Ix THE House of Delegates, ) 
Monday, the 23d Nov. 1778. 5 

Whereas, authentic information has been received, that 
Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark, with a body of Vir- 
ginia militia, has reduced the British posts in the western part 
of this Commonwealth, on the river Mississippi, and its 
branches, whereby great advantage may accrue to the com- 
mon cause of America, as well as to this Commonwealth in 
particular : 

Resolved, That the thanks of this House are justly due to 
the said Colonel Clark, and the brave officers and men under 
his command, for their extraordinary resolution and persever- 
ance, in so hazardous an enterprize, and for their important 
services thereby rendered their country.* 

Test, E. RANDOLPH, C. H. D. 

[After organizing a civil government, and providing for an 
election of magistrates by the people, Col. Clark directed his 
attention to the subjugation of the Indian tribes. In this he 
displayed the same, tact and shrewdness, the same daring, and 
his acts were crowned with the same success as in the con- 
quest w^ith the British posts. 

He always reprobated the policy of inviting and urging the 
Indians to hold treaties, and maintained that such a course 
was founded upon a rnistaken view of their character. He 
supposed they always interpreted such overtures from the go- 
vernment as an evidence of the fear and conscious weakness of 
the whites. Hence, he avoided every intimation that he de- 

*See Butler's History of Kentucky, p. 490. 

13 



202 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

sired peace, and assumed a line of conduct that would appear 
that he meant to exterminate them at once. He always 
waited for them to apply and beg for a treaty. 

These and other measures, which displayed great penetra- 
tion into Indian character, were completely successful. No 
commander ever subjugated as many warlike tribes, in so 
short a time, and at so little expense of life. 

Ilis management of the Indians presents a wide field of 
historical research which the limits of these Annals compel us 
to leave unexplored.] 

His meetings with them were opened at Cahokia, in Sep- 
tember, and his principles of action being never to court them, 
never to load them with presents, never to seem to fear them, 
though always to show respect to courage and ability, and to 
speak in the most direct manner possible, — he waited for the 
natives to make the first advances and offer peace. When 
they had done so, and thrown away the bloody wampum sent 
them by the British, Clark coldly told them he would answer 
them the next day, and, meanwhile, cautioned them against 
shaking hands with the Americans, as peace was not yet con- 
cluded ; it will be time to give hands, when the heart can be 
given too, he said. The next day the Indians came to hear 
the answer of the Big Knife, which we give entire, as taken 
by Mr. Butler and Mr. Dillon, from Clark's own notes. 

"Men and warriors : pay attention to my words. You in- 
formed me yesterday, that the Great Spirit had brought us to- 
gether, and that you hope, that as he was good, it would be for 
good. I have also the same hope, and expect that each party 
will strictly adhere to whatever may be agreed upon, whether 
it shall be peace or war, and henceforward, prove ourselves 
worthy of the attention of the Great Spirit. I am a man and 
a warrior, not a counsellor fl carry \rar in my right hand, and 
in my left, peace. I am sent by the Great Council of the Big 
Knife, and their friends, to take possession of all the towns 
possessed by the English in this country, and to watch the 
motions of the Red people : to bloody the paths of those who 
attempt to stop the course of the river ; but to clear the roads 
for us to those that desire to bo in peace : that tlie women 
and children may walk in ihom without meeting any thing to 
strike their icct against. 1 am ordered to call upon the Great 
Fire for warriors enough to darken the land, and that the Red 
people may hear no sound, but of birds who live on blood. I 
know there is a mist before your eyes ; I will dispel the clouds, 
that you may clearly sec the causes of the war between the 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 203 

Big Knife and the English; then you may judge for yourselves, 
which party is in the right ; and if you are warriors, as you 
profess yourselves to be, prove it by adhering faithfully to the 
party, which you shall believe to be entitled to your friend- 
ship, and not show yourselves to be squaws. 

"The Big Knife is very much like the Red people, they don't 
know hov/ to make blankets, and powder, and cloth ; they buy 
these things from the English, from whom they are sprung. 
They live by making corn, hunting and trade, as you and your 
neighbors, the French, do. But the Big Knife, daily getting 
more numerous, like the trees in the woods, the land became 
poor, and the hunting scarce; and having but little to trade 
with, the women began to cry at seeing their children naked, 
and tried to learn how to make clothes for themselves ; some 
made blankets for their husbands and children ; and the men 
learned to make guns and powder. In this way we did not want 
to buy so much from the English; they then got mad with us, and 
sent strong garrisons through our country, (as you see they have 
done among you on the lakes, and among the French,) they 
would not let our women spin, nor our men make powder, nor 
let us trade with any body else. The English said, we should 
buy every thing from them, and since we had got saucy, we 
should give two bucks for a blanket, which we used to get for 
one ; we should do as they pleased, and they killed some of our 
people, to make the rest fear them. This is the truth, and the 
real cause of the war between the English and us ; which did 
not take place for some time after this treatment. But our 
women become cold and hungry, and continued to cry ; our 
young men got lost for want of counsel to put them in the 
right path. The whole land was dark, the old men held down 
their heads for shame, because they could not see the sun, and 
thus there was mourning for many years over the land. At last 
the Great Spirit took pity on us, and kindl'ed a great council 
lire, that never goes out, at a place called Philadelphia; he 
then stuck down a post, and put a war tomahawk by it, and 
went away. The sun immediately broke out, the sky Avas 
blue again, and the old men held up their heads, and assem- 
bled at the fire ; they took up the hatchet, sharpened it, and 
put it into the hands of our young men, ordering them to 
strike the English as long as they could find one on this side 
of the great waters. The young men immediately struck the 
war post, and blood was shed : in this way the war began, 
and the English were driven from one place to another, until 
they got weak, and then they hired you red people to fight for 
them. The Great Spirit got angry at this, and caused your 
old Father, the French king, and other great nations, to join' 
the Big Knife, and fight with them against all their enemies. 
So the English have become like a deer in the woods; and you 
may see that it is the Great Spirit, that has caused your waters 



204 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

to be troubled ; because you have fought for the people he 
was mad with. If your women and children should now cry, 
you must blame yourselves for it, and not the Big Knife. You 
can now judge who is in the right; I have already told you 
who I am; here is a bloody belt, and a white one, take which 
vou please. Behave like men, and don't let your being sur- 
rounded by the Big Knife, cause you to take up the one belt 
with your hands, while your hearts take up the other. If you 
take the bloody path, you shall leave the town in safety, and 
may go and join your friends, the English; we will then try 
like warriors, who can put the most stumbling blocks in each 
other's way, and keep our clothes longest stained with blood. 
U, on the other hand, you should take the path of peace, and 
be received as brothers to the Big Knife, with their friends, 
the French, should you then listen to bad birds, that may be 
flying through the land, you will no longer deserve to be 
counted as men ; but as creatures with two tongues, that 
ought to be destroyed without listening to any thing you 
might say. As t am convinced you never heard the truth be- 
fore, I do not Avish you to answer before you have taken time 
to counsel. We will, therefore, part this evening, and when 
the Great Spirit shall bring us together again, let us speak 
and think like men, with one heart and one tongue."* 

This speech produced the desired effect, and upon the fol- 
lowing day, the "Red people" and the "Big Knife," united 
hearts and hands both. In all these proceedings, there is no 
question that, directly and indirectly, the alliance of the United 
States with France was very instrumental in producing a 
friendly feeling among the Indians, who had never lost their 
old regard toward their first Great Father. 

But, though it was Clark's general rule not to court the 
savages, there were some particular chieftains so powerful as 
to induce him to invite them to meet him, and learn the merits 
of the quarrel between the colonies and England. Among 
these was Black Bird, one of the lake chiefs; he came at tlic 
invitation of the American leader, and, dispensing with the 
usual formulas of the Indian negotiation, sat down with Col. 
Clark in a common sense way, and talked and listened, ques- 
tioned and considered, until he was satisfied that the rebels 
had the right of the matter ; after which he became, and re- 
mained a firm friend of the Big Knives. 

While the negotiations between the conqueror^f Kaskas- 
kia and the natives were going forward, an incident occurred, 

« See Butler'a History of Kentucky, p. 6S. 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 205 

so characteristic of Col. Clark, that we cannot omit its men- 
tion, as follows: A party of Indians, known as Meadow In- 
dians,* had come to attend ihe council with Iheir neighbors. 
These, by some means, were induced to attempt the murder of 
the invaders, and tried to obtain an opportunity to commit 
the crime proposed, by surprising Clark and his officers in 
their quarters. In this plan they failed, and their purpose was 
discovered by the sagacity of the French in attendance ; when 
this was done, Clark gave them to the French to deal with as 
they pleased, but with a hint that some of the leaders would 
be as well in irons. Thus fettered and foiled, the chiefs were 
brought daily to the council house, where he whom they pro- 
posed to kill, was engaged daily in forming friendly relations 
with their red brethren. At length, when by these means the 
futility of their project had been sufficiently impressed upon 
them, the American commander ordered their irons to be 
struck off, and in his quiet way, full of scorn, said, "Every 
body thinks you ought to die for your treachery upon my life, 
amidst the sacred deliberations of a council. I had determin- 
ed to inflict death upon you for your base attempt, and you 
yourselves must be sensible that you have justly forfeited your 
lives; but on considering the meanness of watching a bear 
and catching him asleep, I have found out that you are not 
\varriors, only old women, and too mean to be killed by the 
Big Knife. But," continued he, "as you ought to be punished 
for putting on breech cloths like men, they shall be taken 
away from you, plenty of provisions shall be given for your 
journey home, as women don't know how to hunt, and during 
your stay you shall be treated in every respect as squaws. f" 
These few cutting words concluded, the Colonel turned 
away to converse with others. The children of the prairie, 
who had looked for anger, not contempt — punishment, not 
freedom — were unaccountably stirred by this treatment. 
They took counsel together, and presently a chief came for- 
ward with a belt and pipe of peace, which, with proper 
words, he laid upon the table. The interpreter stood ready 
to translate the woi'ds of friendship, but, with curling lip, the 

* These were a remnant of the Mascoutin tribe, or Prairie Tribe, as the name signi- 
fies.— Ed. 

"f This was a mode of punishment used by the Indians as a mark of disgrace. An In- 
dian thus degraded, never after could be a man. He must do the drudgery of a Squaw. 
—Ed. 



206 Conquest of Illinois 1778. 

American said he did not wish to hear them, and lifting a 
sword which lay before him, he shattered the offered pipe, 
with the cutting expression that "he did not treat with wo- 
men." The bewildered, overwhelmed Meadow Indians, next 
asked the intercession of other red men, already admitted to 
friendship, but the only reply was, "The Big Knife has made 
no war upon these people ; they are of a kind that we shoot 
like wolves when we meet them in the woods, lest they eat 
the deer." All this wrought more and more upon the offend- 
ing tribe ; again they took counsel, and then two young men 
came forward, and, covering their heads with their blankets, 
sat down before the impenetrable commander ; then two 
chiefs arose, and stating that these young warriors offered their 
lives as an atonement for the misdoings of their relatives, 
again they presented the pipe of peace. Silence reigned in 
the assembly, while the fate of the proflfered victims hung 
in suspense : all watched the countenance of the American 
leader, who could scarce master the emotion which the inci- 
dent excited. Still, all sat noiseless, nothing heard but the 
deep breathing of those whose lives thus hung by a thread. 
Presently, he upon whom all depended, arose, and, approach- 
ing the young men, he bade them be uncovered and stand up. 
They sprang to their feet. "I am glad to find," said Clark, 
warmly, "that there are men among all nations. With you, 
who alone are fit to be chiefs of your tribe, I am willing to 
treat; through you lam ready to grant peace to your broth- 
ers; I take you by the hands as chiefs, worthy of being such.^* 
Here again the fearless generosity, the generous fearlessness 
of Clark, proved perfectly successful, and while the tribe in 
question became the allies of America, the fame of the occur- 
rence, which spread far and wide through the north-west, 
made the name of the white negotiator everywhere respected. 
Before the act of the legislature was carried into effect, 
Vincennes was recaptured by Henry Hamilton, the British 
Lieutenant Governor of Detroit. Having collected an army of 
about thirty regulars, fifty French volunteers, and four hundred 
Indians", he went from Detroit, to the Wabash, thence down 
that liver, and appeared before the fort on the 15th of Decem- 
ber, 1778. The people made no effort to defend the place. 
Captain Helm and a man by the name of Henry, Avere the 
only Americans in the fort. The latter had a cannon well 



1778. Conquest of Illinois. 207 

charged, placed in the open gate-way, while the Command- 
ant, Helm, stood by it with the lighted match. When Col. 
Hamilton and his troops approached within hailing distance, 
the American officer called out, with a loud voice, "Halt !" 
This show of resistance caused Hamilton to stop, and demand 
a surrender of the garrison. 

Helm exclaimed, "No man shall enter here until I know the 
terms." Hamilton responded, "You shall have the honors of 
war ;" and the fort was surrendered, and the one officer, and 
the one private, received the customary mark of respect for 
their brave defence.* 

A portion of Hamilton's force was dispatched with the In- -^ 
dians to attack the settlements on the Ohio and Mississippi ' 
rivers. Capt Helm was detained in the fort as a prisoner, 
and the French inhabitants were disarmed. Col. Clark's post- -^ 
tion became perilous. Detached parties of hostile Indians, 
sent out by Coi. Hamilton, began to appear in Illinois. He 
ordered Maj. Bowman to evacuate the fort at Cahokia, and 
meet him at Kaskaskia. "I could see," says Clark, "but little 
probability of keeping possession of the country, as my num- 
-ber of raen was too small to stand a siege, and my situation 
too remote to call for assistance. I made all the preparation 
I possibly could for the attack, and was necessitated to set fire 
to some of the houses in town, to clear them out of the way." 
At this crisis, the bold and hazardous project of capturing 
Col. Hamilton, and retaking Post Vincennes, became the 
theme of his daily and nightly meditations. 

He employed Col. Francis Vigo, then a resident of St, 
Loui.s, to make an exploration of the circumstances and 
strength of the enemy at Post Vincennes. Col. Vigo, though 
a Spanish subject, possessed an innate love of liberty; an at- 
tachment to republican principles, and an ardent sympathy 
for an oppressed people, struggling for their rights. He dis- 
regarded personal consequences, for as soon as he heard of the 
arrival of Col. Clark at Kaskaskia, and the possession of Illi- 
nois by the Americans, he went there and tendered his wealth 
and influence to sustain the cause of liberty. 

At the request of Col. Clark, Col. Vigo, with a single ser- 
vant, proceeded to Vincennes. At the Embarrass he was 

® Butler':^ Kentucky, note, p. 80. 



208 Conquest of Illinois. 1779. 

taken prisoner by a party of Indians, plundered and brought 
before Col. Hamilton. Being a Spanish subject, though sus- 
pected of being a spy for the Americans, the Governor had no 
power to hold him as a prisoner of war, but forbid him to leave 
the fort. Entreated by the French inhabitants to allow him 
to depart, and threatened with the refusal of all supplies for 
the garrison, the Governor reluctantly yielded, on condition 
that Col. Vigo would sign an article "not to do any act dur- 
ing the war, injurious to the British interests." This he re- 
fused, but consented to a pledge not to do any thing injurious 
on his way to St. Louis. This was accepted, and Col. Vigo was 
permitted to depart in a pirogue down the Wabash and Ohio, 
and up the Mississippi to !St. Louis. lie kept his pledge 
most sacredly. On his way to St. Louis, he abstained from 
all intercourse with the Americans — but he only staid at home 
long enough to change his dress, when he returned to Kas- 
kaskia, and gave Col. Clark full and explicit information of 
the condition of the British force at Vincennes, the projected 
movements of Hamilton, and the friendly feelings of the 
French towards the Americans- From him Col. Clark learn- 
ed that a portion of the British troops were absent on maraud-- 
ing parties with the Indians, that the garrison consisted of 
about eighty regular soldiers, three brass field pieces, and 
some swivels, and that Governor Hamilton meditated the re- 
capture of Kaskaskia early in the spring. Col. Clark deter- 
mined on the bold project of an expedition to Vincennes, of 
which he wrote to Gov. Henry, and sent an express to Vir- 
ginia. As a reason for this hazardous project, Col. Clark 
urged the force and designs of Hamilton, saying to Governor 
Henry in his letter, "/ knew if I did not take him, he would take 
me:' 

A boat fitted up as a galley, carrying two four pounders 
and four swivels, and commanded by Capt John Rogers, with 
forty-six men, and provisions, M-as dispatched from Kaskaskia 
to the Ohio, with orders to proceed up the Wabash as secretly 
as possible to a place near the mouth of the Embarrass. Two 
companies of men ware raised from Cahokia, and Kaskaskia, 
commanded by Captains McCarty and Charleville, which, with 
the Americans, amounted to one hundred and seventy men. 

The winter was unusually wet and the streams all high, but 
on the 7th of February, 1779, this fragment of an army com- 



1779. Conquest of Illinois. 209 

menced its march from Kaskaskia to Post Vincent. Their route 
lay through the prairies and points of timber east of the Kas- 
kaskia river, a north-easternly course, through Washington and 
Marion counties, into Clay county, where the trail visible thirty 
years since, would strike the route of the present road from 
St. Louis to Vincennes.^ This was one of the most dreary 
and fatiguing expeditions of the Revolutionary war. After 
incredible hardships, they reached the Little Wabash, the low 
bottoms of which, for several miles, were covered with water, 
as Col. Clark's report affirms, "generally three feet deep, never 
under two, and frequently over four feet."^ They arrived at 
the "two Wabashes," as Bowman in his journal calls the two 
branches, (now known as the "Little Wabash" and "Muddy" 
rivers,) on the 13th. -' Here they made a canoe, and on the 
15th, ferried over their baggage, which they placed on a scaf- 
fold on the opposite bank. Rains fell nearly every day, but 
the weather was not cold. Hitherto they had borne their ex- 
treme privations and difficulties with incredible patience, but 
now the spirits of many seemed exhausted. There was an 
(Irish drummer in the party who possessed an uncommon talent 
\ in singing comic, Irish songs. 

' While the men were wading to the waist, and sometimes to 
the arm-pits in mud and water, the fertile ingenuity of Col. 
Clark, who never failed in resources, placed the Irishman on 
\his drum which readily floated, while he entertained the ex- 
hausteed troops with his comic and musical powers. 

On the 18th day of February, eleven days after their depar- 
ture from Kaskaskia, they heard the morning gun of the fort, 
and at evening of the same day, they were on the Great Wa- 
bash, below the mouth of the Embarrass. The party were 
now in the most exhausted, destitute and starving condition, 
and no signs of their boat with supplies. The river was out 
of its banks, all the low grounds covered with water, and 
canoes could not be constructed to carry them over before the 
British garrison would discover and capture, or massacre the 
whole party. February 20th, they hailed and brought to a 
boat from Post Vincent, and, from the crew, whom they de- 
tained, they learned that the French population were friendly 
to the Americans, and that no suspicion of the expedition had 
reached the British garrison. 

Here we shall let Col. Clark tell the story in his journal : 



210 Conquest of Illinois. 1779. 

"This last day's march, [February 21st,] through the water, 
was far superior to any thing the Frenchmen had any idea of: 
they were backward in speaking — said that the nearest land 
to us was a small league, called the sugar camp, on the 
bank of the slough. A canoe was sent off, and returned with- 
out finding that we could pass. I went in her myself, and 
sounded the water : found it deep as to my neck. I returned 
with a design to have the men transported on board the ca- 
noes to the sugar camp, which I knew would spend the whole 
day and ensuing night, as the vessels would pass slowly 
through the bushes. The loss of so much time, to men hulf 
starved, was a matter of consequence. I would have given 
now a great deal for a day's provision, or for one of our 
horses. I returned but slowly to the troops — giving myself 
time to think. On our arrival, all ran to hear what was the 
report. Every eye was fixed on me. I unfortunately spoke 
in a serious manner to one of the officers : the whole were 
alarmed without knowing what I said. I viewed their con- 
fusion for about one minute — whispered to those near me to 
do as I did — immediately put some water in my hand, poured 
on powder, blackened my face, gave the war-whoop, marched 
into the water, without saying a word. The party gazed, fell 
in, one after another, without saying a word, like a flock of 
sheep. I ordered those near me to give a favorite song of 
theirs : It soon passed through the line, and the whole w^ent 
on cheerfully. I now intended to have them transported 
across the deepest part of the water; but when about waist 
deep, one of the men informed me that he thought he felt a 
path. We examined, and found itso ; and concluded that it 
kept on the highest ground, which it did ; and by taking pains 
to follow it, we got to the sugar camp, without the least dif- 
ficulty, where there was about half an acre of dry ground, at 
least not under water, where we took up our lodgings. The 
Frenchmen that we had taken on the river, appeared to be 
uneasy at our situation. They begged that they might be 
permitted to go in the two canoes to town in the night: they 
said they would bring from their own houses provisions, with- 
out the possibility of any person knowing it; that .«ome of our 
men should go with them, as a surety of their good conduct — 
that it was impossible we could march from that place till the 
water fell, for the plain was too deep to march. Some of the 
[officers?] believed that it might be done. I would not suffer 
it. I never could well account for this piece of obstinacy, and 
give satisfactory reasons to myself, or any body else, why I 
denied a proposition apparcnth' so easy to execute, and of so 
much advantage : but something seemed to tell me that it 
should not be done ; and it \vas not done. 

"Ihe most of the weather that we had on this march, was 
moist and warm, for the season. This was the coldest night 



1779. Conquest of Illinois. 211 

we had. The ice in the morning was from one half to three 
quarters of an inch thick, near the shores, and in still water. 
The morning was the finest we had on our march. A little 
after sunrise I lectured the whole. What I said to them I for- 
get; but it may be easily imagined by a person that could 
possess my affections for them at that time : I concluded by 
informing them, that passing the plain that was then in full 
view, and reaching the opposite woods, would put an end to 
their fatigue — that in a few hours they would have a sight of 
their long wished for object — and immediately stepped into the 
water without waiting for any reply. A huzza took place. 
As we generally marched through the water in a line, before 
the third entered T halted and called to Major Bowman, order- 
ed him to fall in the rear wdth twenty-five men, and to put to 
death any man who refused to march ; as we wished to have 
no such person among us. The whole gave a cry of approba- 
tion, and on we went. This was the most trying of all the dif- 
ficulties we had experienced. I generally kept fifteen or 
twenty of the strongest men next myself; and judged from 
my own feelings what must be that of others. Getting about 
the middle of the plain, the water about mid-deep, 1 found 
myself sensibly failing ; and as there were no trees nor bushes 
for the men to support themselves by, I feared that many of 
the most weak would be drowned. I ordered the canoes to 
make the land, discharge their loading, and play backwards 
and forwards with all diligence, and pick up the men ; and to 
encourage the party, sent some of the strongest men forward, 
with orders, when they got to a certain distance, to pass the 
word back that the water was getting shallow ; and when 
getting near the woods to cry out 'Land !' This stratagem had 
its desired effect. The men, encouraged by it, exerted them- 
selves almost beyond their abilities — the weak holding by the 
stronger. * * * The water never got shallower, but con- 
tinued deepening. Getting to the woods where the men ex- 
pected land, the water was up to my shoulders : but gaining 
the woods was of great consequence : all the low men and 
weakly, hung to the trees, and floated on the old logs, until 
they were taken off by the canoes. The strong and tall got 
ashore and built fires. Many would reach the shore, and fall 
with their bodies half in the water, not being able to support 
themselves without it. 

"This was a delightful dry spot of ground, of about ten acres. 
We soon found that fires answered no purpose ; but that two 
strong men taking a weaker one by the arms was the only 
way to recover him— and, being a delightful day, it soon did. 
But, fortunately, as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian 
squaws and children were coming up to town, and took thro' 
part of this plain as a nigh way. It was discovered by our ca- 
noes as they were out after the men. They gave chase and took 



212 Conquest of Illinois. 1779. 

the Indian canoe, on board of which was near half a quarter 
of buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettles, &c. This was a grand 
prize, and was invaluable. Broth was immediately made and 
served out to the most weakly, with great care : most of the 
whole got a little ; but a great many gave their part to the 
weakly, jocosely saying something cheering to their comrades. 
This little refreshment and fine weather, by the afternoon, 
gavelife to the whole. Crossing a narrow deep lake in the 
canoes, and marching some distance, we came to a copse 
of timber called the Warrior's Island. We were now in full 
view of the fort and town, not a shrub between us, at about 
two miles distance. Every man now feasted his eyes, and 
forgot that he had suffered any thing — saying, that all that had 
passed was owing to good policy, and nothing but v.hat a man 
could bear ; and that a soldier had no right to think, &c. — 
passing from one extreme to another, which is common in 
such cases. It was now we had to display our abilities. The 
plain between us and the town was not a perfect level. The 
sunken grounds were covered with water full of ducks. W^e 
observed several men out on horseback, shooting them, within 
half a mile of us ; and sent out as many of our active young 
Frenchmen to decoy and take one of these men prisoner, in 
such a manner as not to alarm the others ; which they did. 
The information we got from this person was similar to that 
which wc got from those we took on the river; except that of 
the British having that evening completed the wall of the fort, 
and that there were a good many Indians in town. 

Our situation was now truly critical — no possibility of re- 
treating in case of defeat — and in full view of a town that had 
at this time upwards of six hundred men in it, troops, inhab- 
itants, and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not fifty 
men, would now have been a reinforcement of immense mag- 
nitude to our little army, (if I may so call it,) but we would 
not think of them. We were now in the situation that 1 had 
labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner 
was foreign to almost every man, as they expected nothing 
but torture from the savages, if they fell into their hands. Our 
fate was now to be determined, probably in a few hours. W^e 
knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would ensure 
success. I knew that a number of the inhabitants wished us 
well — that many were lukewarm to the interest of either — and 
I also learned that the Grand Chief, the Tobacco's son, had, 
, but a few days before, openly declared in council with the 
\ British, that he was a brother and a friend to the Big Knives. 
These were favorable circumstances ; and as there was but 
little probability of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I 
determined to begin the career immediately, and wrote the 
following placard to the inhabitants : 



1779. Conquest of Illinois. 213 

To the inhabitants of Post Vinccnnes. 
Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of your village, 
with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not 
being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request 
such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the lib- 
erty I bring you, to remain still in your houses. And those, if 
any there be, that are friends to the king, will instantly repair 
to the fort and join the hair-buyer General, and fight like men. 
And if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered 
afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. On the 
contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on 
being well treated ; and I once more request them to keep out 
of the streets. For every one I find in arms on my arrival, I 
shall treat him as an enemy. 

[Signed,] G. R. CLARK. 

[This singular epistle, as Clark designed, had a two-fold ef- 
fect, and displayed his astonishing insight into human nature. 
Its imposing character inspired the inhabitants who were friend- 
ly with confidence, and filled the enemy with terror and dis- 
may. As no one imagined an expedition, at that season, 
could cross the waters from Illinois, the impression was made 
that the town was about to be invaded by a large army from 
Kentucky. This impression was confirmed by several messa- 
ges being sent in under assumed names of gentlemen known 
in Kentucky, to their acquaintances in Vincennes. 

The same day about sunset, (Feb. 23,) the American forces 
set off to attack the Fort. To confirm the impression that the 
invaders consisted of a large army. Col. Clark divided his 
men into platoons, each displaying a different flag, and after 
marching and countermarching around some mounds, within 
sight of the fort, and making other demonstrations of numbers 
and strength, till after dark, when Lieut. Bayley with fourteen 
men, was sent to attack the Fort. This party lay within thirty 
yards of the Fort, defended by a bank and safe from the ene- 
my's guns. No sooner was a port hole opened than a dozen 
rifles were directed to the aperture — one soldier was killed and 
the rest could not be prevailed upon to stand to the guns. 

On the morning of the 24th, at 9 o'clock. Col. Clark sent a 
flag of truce with the following letter, while his men, for the 
first time in six days, were provided with breakfast. The 
letter of Col. Clark is characteristic of the man : 

" Sir — In order to save yourself from the impending storm 
that now threatens you, I order you immediately to surrender 



214 Conquest of Illinois. 1779. 

yourself, with all your garrison, stores, &c. &c. For if I am 
obliged to storm, you may depend upon such treatment as 
is justly due to a mm-dcrer. Beware of destroying stores of 
any kind, or any papers or letters that are in your possession, 
or hurting one house in town. For, by Heavens, if you do, 
there shall be no mercy shown you. G. R. CLARK. 

" To Gov. Hamilton." 

The reply of Gov. Hamilton shows that this daring course 
of Col. Clark had its intended effect. He replies : 

" Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Col. Clark, that 
he and his garrison are not disposed to be awed into any action 
unworthy British subjects." 

The attack was renewed with vigor and soon produced an- 
other message : 

" Gov. Hamilton proposes to Col. Clark a truce for three 
days, during which time he promises, that there should be no 
defensive works carried on in the garrison, on condition that 
Col. Clark will observe, on his part, a like cessation of offen- 
sive work : that is, he wishes to confer with Col. Clark, as 
soon as can be, and promises that whatever may pass between 
them two, and another person, mutually agreed on to be pres- 
ent, shall remain secret till matters be finished ; as he wishes, 
that whatever the result of the conference maybe, it may tend 
to the honor and credit of each party. If Col. Clark makes a 
difficulty of coming into the Fort, Lieut. Gov. Hamilton will 
speak with him by the gate. HENRY HAMILTON." 

February 24th, '79. 

To which the following reply was sent : 

" Col. Clark's compliments to Governor Hamilton, and begs 
leave to say, that he will not agree to any terms, other than 
Mr. Hamilton siwrcndcr ivg Imnsclf and garrison prisoners at dis- 
cretion ^ 

" If JMr. Hamilton wants to talk with Col. Clark, he will 
meet him at the Church with Capt. Helm." 

A conference was held as proposed, when Col. Clark de- 
manded a surrender, and threatened to massacre the leading 
men in the Fort for supplying the Indians with the means of 
annoyance, and purchasing scalps, if his terms were not ac- 
cepted. In one hour after, Col. Clark dictated the following 
terms, which were accepted : 



1779. Conquest of Illinois. 21 5 

"1st. Lieutenant Governor Hamilton agrees to deliver up to 
Colonel Clark, 'Fort Sackville,' as it is at present, with its 
stores, &c. 

"2d. The garrison are to deliver themselves as prisoners of 
war, and march out with their arms and accoutrements. 

"3d. The garrison to be delivered up to-morrow, at ten 
o'clock. 

"4th. Three days' time to be allowed the garrison to settle 
their accounts with the inhabitants and traders. 

"5th. The ofHcers of the garrison to be allowed their neces- 
sary baggage, &c. 

"Signed at Post St. Vincennes, this 24lh day of February, 
1779; agreed to for the following reason : 1st. Remoteness from 
succor: 2d. the state and quantity of provisions : 3d. The 
unanimity o{ ihe officers and men in its expediency: 4th. The 
honorable terms allowed : and, lastly, the confidence in a 
generous enemy. HENRY HAMILTON, 

Lieutenant Governor and Super intendenty 

On the 25th of February, Fort Sackville was surrendered to 
the American troops, and the garrison treated as prisoners of 
war. The American flag waved on its battlements, and thir- 
teen guns celebrated the victory. 

Seventy-nine prisoners, and stores to the value of 50,000 
dollars, were obtained by this bold and desperate enterprise, 
and the whole country along the Mississippi and Wabash, re- 
mained ever after in the peaceable possession of the Ameri- 
cans. Gov. Hamilton Avas sent to Richmond, and his men 
permitted to return to Detroit on parole of honor. 

Six were badly, and one man mortally wounded on the part 
of the British, and only one man wounded on the part of the 
Americans.] 

The Governor and some others were sent prisoners to Vir- 
ginia, where the council ordered their confinement in jail, fet- 
tered and alone, in punishment for their abominable policy of 
urging barbarians to ultra barbarism, as they surely had done 
by offering rewards for scalps but none for prisoners, a course 
which naturally resulted in wholesale and cold-blooded mur-- 
der; the Indians driving captives within sio^ht of the British, 
forts and then butchering them. As this rigid confinement 
however just, was not in accordance with the terms of Ham- 
ilton's surrender, General Phillips protested in regard to it 
and Jefferson having referred the matter to the Commander-in- 
chief, Washington gave his opinion decidedly against it, in 



210 Conquest of Illinois. 1778. 

consequence of which the Council of Virginia released the 
Detroit " h^iir-buyer" from his irons. * 

Clark returned to Kaskaskia, where, in consequence of the 
competition of the traders, he found himself more embarrassed 
from the depreciation of the paper money which had been ad- 
vanced him by Virginia, than he had been by the movements 
of the British ; and where he was forced to pledge his own 
credit to procure what he needed, to an extent that induenced 
vitally his own fortune and life thenceforward. 

After the taking of Vincennes, Detroit was undoubtedly 
within the reach of the enterprising Virginian, had he been 
but able to raise as many soldiers as were starving and idling 
at Forts Laurens and Mcintosh. [Col. Clark, in his letter to 
Mr. Jefferson, says, that with five hundred men, when he 
reached Illinois, or with three hundred after the conquest of 
Post Vincennes, he could have taken Detroit. The people of 
Detroit rejoiced greatly when they heard of Hamilton's cap- 
ture.] Gov. Henry having promised him a reinforcement, he 
concluded to wait for that, as his force was too small to both 
conquer and garrison the British forts. But the results of what 
was done were not unimportant ; indeed we cannot estimate 
those results. Hamilton had made arrangements to enlist the 
Southern and Western Indiansf for the next spring's cam- 
paign ; and, if Mr. Stone be correct in his suppositions. Brant 
and his Iroquois were to act in concert with him. J Had 
Clark, therefore, failed to conquer the Governor, there is too 
much reason to fear, that the West would have been, indeed, 
swept, from the Mississippi to the mountains, and the great 
blow struck, which had been contemplated, from the outset, 
by Britain. But for his small army of dripping, but fearless 
Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine, 
against the colonies, might have been effected, and the whole 
current of our history changed. 

[The conquest of Clark changed the face of affairs in rela- 
tion to the whole country north of the Ohio river, which, in all 
probability, would have been the boundary between Canada 
and the U. States. This conquest was urged by the American 
Commissioners in negotiating the definite treaty of 1793.] 

• Sparks' Washington, vi. 315. — Aliuon'd Remembrancer for 1779, pp. 337. 340. — Jef- 
ferson's Writings, i. 451 to 458. 
•f Butler, p. 80. J Stone's Brandt, 1. 400. Notes, Boston Edition. 



CHAPTER Vlir. 
SKETCHES OF KENTUCKY. 

Captivity of Boone — Siege of Boonesboroiigh — iDvasion of the Six Nations — Treatywith the 
Delawares— Virginia land laws— Claims of France and Spain — Invasion of Kentucky 
— Civil organization of the same — Invasion of St. Louis — Events in Ohio. 

[We now return to bring forward the annals of Kentucky. 
The people had suffered much for salt, and the labor and risk 
of packing it over the mountains on horseback were too great ; 
for only by that mode of transportation could they obtain the 
necessaries of life which the wilderness did not furnish. It 
was arranged that thirty men, under the guidance of Captain 
Boone, should proceed to the Lower Blue Licks, on Licking 
river, and manufacture salt. The enterprise was commenced 
on new year's day, 1778.] 

Boone was to be guide, hunter, and scout; the rest cut wood 
and attend to the manufacturing department. January passed 
quietly, and before the 7th of February, enough of the pre- 
cious condiment had accumulated to lead to the return of 
three of the party to the stations, with the treasure. The rest 
still labored on, and Boone enjoyed the winter weather in the 
forest after his own fashion. Ikit. alas for him, there was 
more than mere game about him in those woods alonf the 
rugged Licking. On the 7th of February, as he was hunting, 
he came upon a party of one hundred and two foes, two 
Canadians, the remainder Indians, Shawanese apparently. 
Boone fled ; but their swiftest runners were on his trail, and. 
he was soon their prisoner. Finding it impossible to give his 
companions at the Licks due notice so as to secure their es- 
cape, he proceeded to make terms on their behalf with his 
captors, and then persuaded his men by gestures, at a dis- 
tance, to surrender without offering battle. Thus, without a 
blow, the invaders found themselves possessed of twentv- 
eight prisoners, and among them the greatest, in an Indian's 
eyes, of all the Long Knives. This band was on its way to 
Boonesborough, to attack or to reconnoitre ; but such good luck 
as they had met with changed their minds, and, turning upon 



218 ■ Boone a Captive. 1778. 

tlieir track, they took up their march for old Chillicothe, an 
Indian town on the Little Miami. 

It was no part of the plan of the Shawanese, however, to 
retain these men in captivity, nor yet to scalp, slay, or eat 
them. Under the influence and rewards of Governor Hamil- 
ton, the British Commander in the Northwest, the Indians had 
taken up the business of speculating in human beings, both 
dead and alive ; and the Shawanese meant to take Boone and 
his comrades to the Detroit market. On the 10th of March, 
accordingly, eleven of the party, including Daniel himself, 
were dispatched for the North, and, after twenty days of jour- 
neying, were presented to the English Governor, who treated 
them, Boone saj's, with great humanity. To Boone himself, 
Hamilton and several other gentlemen seem to have taken an 
especial fancy, and offered considerable sums for his release ; 
but the Shawanese had also become enamored of the veteran 
hunter and would not part with him. He must go home with 
them, they said, and be one of them, and become a great 
chief. So the pioneer found his very virtues becoming the 
cause of a prolonged captivity. In April, the red men, with 
their one white captive, about to be converted into a genuine 
son of nature, returned from the flats of Michigan, covered 
with ])rush-chokcd forests, to the rolling valley of the Miamis, 
with its hill-sides clothed in their rich open woods of maple 
and beech, then just bursting into bloom. And now the white 
blood was washed out of the Kentucky ranger, and he was 
made a son in the family of Blackfish, a Shawanese Chief, 
and was loved and caressed by father and mother, brothers 
and sisters, till he was thoroughly sick of them. But disgust, 
he could not show ; so he was kind, and affable, and knew 
how to allay any suspicions they might harbor Jest he should 
runaway. He took his part in their games and romps ; shot 
as near the centre of a target as a good hunter ought to, and 
yet left the savage marksmen a chance to excel him, and smil- 
ed in his quiet eye when he witnessed their joy at having 
done better than the best of the Long Knives. He grew into 
favor with the chief, was trusted, treated with respect, and 
listened to with attention. No man could have been better 
calculated than Boone to disarm the suspicions of the red 
men. Some have called him a white Indian, except that he 
never showed the Indian's blood thirstincs.s, when excited. 



1778. His Fortunate Escape. 219 

Scarce any other white ever possessed in an equal degree the 
true Indian gravity, which comes neither from thought, feeling, 
or vacuity, but from a bump pecuUar to their own craniums. 
And so in hunting, shooting, swimming, and other Shawanese 
amusements, the newly made Indian Boone spent the month 
of May, necessity making all the little inconveniences of his 
lot quite endurable. 

On the 1st of June, his aid was required in the business of 
salt making, and for that purpose he and a party of his brethren 
started for the valley of the Scioto, where he stayed ten days, 
hunting, boiling brine, and cooking ; then the homeward path 
was taken again. But when Chillicothe was once more reach- 
ed, a sad sight met our friend Daniel's eyes; four hundred and 
fifty of the choice w^arriors of the West, painted in the most 
exquisite war style, and armed for the battle. He scarce need- 
ed to ask whither they were bound ; his heart told him 
Boonesborough ; and already in imagination he saw the blaz- 
ing roofs of the little borough he had founded, and he saw 
the bleeding forms of his friends. Could he do nothing? He 
would see; meanwhile be a good Indian and look all ease and 
joy. He was a long way from his own white homestead ; one 
hundred and fifty miles at least, and a rough and inhospitable 
country much of the way between him and it. But he had 
traveled fast and far, and might again. So, without a word 
to his fellow prisoners, early in the morning of June the 16th, 
without his breakfast, in the most secret manner, unseen, un- 
heard, he departed. He left his red relatives to mourn his 
loss, and over hill and valley sped, forty miles a day, for four 
successive days, and ate but one meal by the way. He found 
the station wholly unprepared to resist so formidable a body as 
that which threatened it, and it was a matter of life and death 
that every muscle should be exerted to get all in readiness for 
the expected visiters. Rapidly the white men toiled in the 
summer sun, and through the summer night, to repair and 
complete the fortifications, and to have all as experience had 
shown it should be. But .still the foe came not, and in a few 
days another escaped captive brought information of the delay 
of the expedition in consequence of Boone's flight. The sav- 
ages had relitd on surprising the stations, and their plans be- 
ing foiled by their adopted son Daniel, all their determinations 
were unsettled. Thus it proved the salvation of Boonesbo- 



220 Boonesborougli Attacked. 1778. 

rough, and probably of all the frontier forts, that the founder 
of Kentucky was taken captive and remained a captive as long 
as he did. So often do seeming misfortunes prove, in God's 
hand, our truest good. 

Boone, finding his late relatives so backward in their pro- 
posed call, determined to anticipate them by a visit to the 
Scioto valley, where he had been at salt-making ; and early 
in August, with nineteen men, started for the town on Paint 
Creek, lie knew, of course, that he was trying a somewhat 
hazardous experiment, as Boonesborougli might be attacked 
in his absence ; but he had his wits about him, and his scouts 
examined the country far and wide. Without interruption, he 
crossed the Ohio, and had reached within a few miles of the 
place he meant to attack, when his advanced guard, consist- 
ing of one man, Simon Kenton, discovered two natives riding 
one horse, and enjoying some joke as they rode. Not consid- 
ering that these two might be, like himself, the van ot a small 
army, Simon, one of the most impetuous of men, shot and run 
forward to scalp them, — but found himself at once in the 
midst of a dozen or more of his red enemies, from whom he 
escaped only by the coming up of Boone and the remainder. 
The commander, upon considering the circumstances, and 
learning from spies whom he sent forward, that the town he in- 
tended to attack was deserted, came to the opinion that the 
band just met was on its way to join a larger body for the in- 
vasion of Kentucky, and advised an immediate return. 

His advice was taken, and the result proved its wisdom; for 
in order to reach Boonesborough, they were actually obliged 
to coast along, go round, and outstrip a body of nearly five 
hundred savages, led by Canadians, who were marching 
against his doomed borough, and after all, got there only the 
day before them. 

[Shortly after their return, on the 7th of September,* the 
whole Indian army, four hundred and furty-four in number, 
commanded by Blackfish, with eleven Canadians under Capt. 
Du Quesnc, with British and French colors flying, appeared 

•Filson from Boone'a dictation, says it was the Slh of August, and Marshall, Flint, 
Butler, and others follow this date. This is certainly a mistake, as at that time, Bocno 
and hid parly were on this expedition at Paint Creek. Col. Bowman's letter to Col. 0. R. 
Clark, is the date we follow, and this accords with the recollection of the late Flanders 
Callaway of Missouri. Sec Life of Boone in Sparks' Blcgraphj', p IS— Ed. 



1778. Indian Treachery. 221 

before Boonesborough. The summons was to " surrender the 
fort in the name of his Britannic Majesty," with promises 
of liberal treatment.] 

It was, as Daniel says, a critical period for him and his 
friends. Should they yield, what mercy could they look for? 
and he, especially, after his unkind flight from his Shawanese 
parents? They had almost stifled him with their caresses 
before ; they would literally hug him to death, if again within 
their grasp. Should they refuse to yield, w^hat hope of suc- 
cessful resistance ? And they had so much need of all their 
cattle, to aid them in sustaining a siege, and yet their cows 
were abroad in the woods. Daniel pondered the matter, and 
concluded it would be safe, at any rate, to ask two days for 
consideration. It was granted, and he drove in his cows ! The 
evening of the 9th soon arrived, however, and he must say 
one thing or another ; so he politely thanked the represent- 
ative of his gracious Majesty for giving the garrison time to 
prepare for their defence, and announced their determination 
to fight. Capt. Du Quesne was much grieved at this ; Gov- 
ernor Hamilton was anxious to save bloodshed, and wished the 
Kentuckians taken alive ; and rather than proceed to extremi- 
ties, the worthy Canadian offered to withdraw his troops, if the 
garrison would make a troat}^, though to what point the treat}'' 
was to aim, is unknown. Boone was determined not to yield; 
but then he had no wish to starve in his fort, or have it taken by 
storm, and be scalped, and he thought, remembering Hamilton's 
kindness to him when in Detroit, that there might be something 
in what the Captain said, and at any rate, to enter upon a treaty 
was to gain time, and something might turn up. So he agreed 
to treat ; but where ? Could nine of the garrison, as desired, 
safely venture into the open field? It might be all a trick to 
get possession of some of the leading whites. Upon the whole, 
however, as the leading Indians and their Canadian allies must 
come under the rifles of the garrison, who might with certainty 
and safety pick them off" if treachery were attempted, it was 
thought best to run the risk ; and Boone, with eight others, 
went out to meet the leaders of the enemy, sixty yards from 
the fort, within which the sharpest shooters stood with leveled 
rifles, ready to protect their comrades. The treaty was made 
and signed, and then the Indians, saying it was their custom 
for two of them to shake hands with every white man when a 



222 Hostility of the Moliawks. 1778. 

treaty was made, expresjed a wish to press the palms of their 
new allies. Boone and his friends must have looked rather 
queer at tliis proposal ; but it was safer to accede than to re- 
fuse and be shot instantly; so they presented each his hand. 
As anticipated the warriors seized them with rough and fierce 
eagerness, the whites drew back struggling, the treachery was 
apparent, the rifle balls from the garrison struck down the 
foremost assailants of the Utile band, and, amid a fire from 
friends and foes, Boone and his fellow deputies bounded back 
into the station, with the exception of one, unhurt. 

[Of the nine men, we can give the names of five ; from 
four of whom, we have heard the story : They were Daniel 
Boone, Flanders Callaway, Stephen Hancock and William 
Hancock, all of whom were living in Missouri in 1818. Squire 
Boone, the brother of Daniel, was the fifth. Neither party was 
armed. In rushing to the fort, Squire Boone was slightl}' 
wounded in the shoulder.] 

The treaty trick having thus failed, Capt. Du Quesne had 
to look to more ordinary modes of warfare, and opened a fire 
which lasted during ten days, though to no purpose, for the 
woodsmen were determined not to yield. On the 20th of Au- 
gust, the Indians were forced unwillingly to retire, having lost 
thirty-seven of their number, and wasted a vast amount of 
powder and lead. The garrison picked up from the ground, 
after their departure, one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 
their bullets.* 

[In the "Pioneer History," by Dr. Hildreth, we learn that in 
January, 1778, provisions became very scarce in the region 
about Pittsburgh. Flour was §8 per hundred pounds.] 
, Meanwhile the United States had not lost sight entirely of 
western a(T;xirs. A fort was built early in the summer of this 
year, upon the banks of the Ohio, a little below Pittsburgh, near 
the spot where Beaver now stands. It was built by General 
Mcintosh, who had been nj)pointed in May to succeed General 
Handf in the West, and was named with his name. J It was 
the first fort built by the whites north of the Ohio. From this 
point it was intended to operate in reducing Detroit, where 
mischief was still brewing. Indeed the natives were now 

*See Bullcr, 534. — Marshall i. Boone's Narrutivo, Ac. 

tSpatks' Washington, v. .".61, 3S2. 

JDoddridge, p. 243. — Silliman'i Journal, vol. xsxi. Art. i. p. 18. 



17 7S. Operations in Ohio. 223 

more united than ever against the colonies. In June we find 
Congress in possession of information, that led them to think 
a universal frontier war close at hand.* The Senecus, Cayu- 
gas, Mingoes, (by which, we presume, were meant the Ohio 
Iroquois, or possibly the Mohawks,) Wyandots, Onpndagas, 
Ottawas, Chippeways, Shawanese and Delawares, were all 
said to be more or less united in opposition to America. Con- 
gress, learning the danger to be so immediate and great, 
determined to push on the Detroit expedition, and ordered 
another to be undertaken by the Mohawk valley against the 
Senecas, who might otherwise very much annoy and impede 
the march from Fort Pitt. For the capture of Detroit, three 
thousand continental troops and two thousand five hundred 
militia were voted ; an appropriation was made of nearly a 
million of dollars ; and General Mcintosh was to carry for- 
ward the needful operations. 

[Washington mentions Mcintosh as an officer of great worth 
and merit, possessing firmness, love of justice, assiduity, and a 
good understanding.!] 

All the flourish which was made about taking Detroit, how- 
ever, and conquering the Senecas, ended in the Resolves of 
Congress, it being- finally thought too late in the season for 
advantageous action, and also too great an undertaking for 
the weak-handed colonies. 

This having been settled, it was resolved, that the forces 
in the West should move up and attack the Wyandots and 
other Indians about the Sandusky ,J and a body of troops was 
accordingly marched forward to prepare a half-way house, or 
post by which the necessary connexion might be kept up. This 
was built upon the Tuscarawas, a few miles south of the pres- 
ent town of Bolivar. In these quiet, commercial days the 
Ohio canal passes through its midst. It was named Fort Lau- 
rens, in honor of the President of Congress. J 

While these warlike measures were pursued on the one 
hand, the Confederacy, on the other, by its Commissioners, An- 
drew and Thomas Lewis of Virginia, formed at Fort Pitt, on 
the 17th of September, a treaty of peace and alliance with the 
Chiefs of the Delawares, White-Eyes, Kill-Buck, and Pipe. 

^Journals of the Old Congrefs, vol. ii. p. 585. 
■("Jouruals of tbe Old Congress, vol ii. p. 633. 

JSillimaii's Journal, xxxi. 57; where the name as in many treaties, ic. is misprinted. 
Lawrence. 



224 Hostility of the Iroquois. 1779. 

We have alread)^ noticed the erection of Fort Laurens. At 
that point, seventy miles from Fort Mcintosh, and exposed to 
all the fierce north-western tribes. Col. Jno. Gibson had been left 
with one hundred and fifty men to get through the winter of 
1778-9, as he best could, while Mcintosh himself returned to 
Pittsburgh, disappointed and dispirited. Nor was Congress 
in a very good humor with him, for already had six months 
passed to no purpose. Washington was consulted, but could 
give no definite advice, knowing nothing of those details 
which must determine the course of things for the winter. 
Mcintosh, at length, in February asked leave to retire from 
his unsatisfactor}: command, and was allowed to do so. No 
blame, however, appears to have fairly attached to him, as he 
did all in his power; among other things leading a party with 
provisions to the relief of Colonel Gibson's starving garrison. 
Unhappily the guns fired as a salute by those about to be re- 
lieved, scared the pack-horses and much of the provision was 
scattered and lost in the woods. The force at Fort Laurens, 
meantime, had been, as we have intimated, suffering cruelly, 
both from the Indians and famine, and, though finally r^.scued 
from starvation, had done, and could do, nothing. The post 
was at last abandoned in August, 1779. 

Turning from the west to the north, we find a new cause of 
trouble arising there. Of the six tribes of the Iroquois, the 
Senccas, Mohawks, Cayugas, and Onondagiis, had been, from 
the outset, inclining to Britain, though all of these, but the 
Mohawks, had now and then tried to persuade the xVmericans 
to the contrary. During the winter of 1778-9, the Onondagas, 
who had been for a while nearly neutral, were suspected, by 
the Americans, of deception ; and, this suspicion having be- 
come nearly knowledge, a band was sent, early in April, to 
destroy their towns, and take such of them, as could be taken, 
prisoners. The work appointed was done, and the villages 
and wealth of the poor savages were annihilated. This sud- 
den act of severity startled all. The Oneidas, hitherto faith- 
ful to their neutrality, were alarmed, lest the next blow should 
fall on them, and it was only after a full explanation that their 
fears were quieted. As for the Onondagas, it was not to be 
hoped that they would sit down under such treatment ; and 
we find, accordingly, that some hundred of their warriors 
were at once in the field, and from that time forward, a por- 



1779. General Sullivan'' s Expedition. 225 

tion of their nation remained, and, we think, justly, hostile to 
the United Colonies.* 

The Continental Congress, meanwhile, had become con- 
vinced, from the massacre at Wyoming and Cherry Valley, 
that it was advisable to adopt some means of securing the 
north-western and western frontiers against the recurrence of 
such catastrophes ; and, the hostile tribes of the Six Nations 
being the most numerous and deadly foe?, it was concluded to 
begin by strong action against them. Washington had al- 
ways said, that the only proper mode of defence against the 
Indians was to attack them, and this mode he determined to 
adopt on this occasion. Some difference of opinion existed, 
however, as to the best path into the country of the inimical 
Iroquois. General Schuyler v^^as in favor of a movement up 
the Mohawk river; the objection to which route was, that it 
carried the invaders too near to Lake Ontario, and within 
reach of the British. The other course proposed, was up the 
Susquehanna, w^hich heads, as all know, in the region that 
was to be reached. The latter route was the one determined 
on by Washington for the main body of troops, which was to 
be joined by another body moving up the Mohavvdc, and also 
by detachments coming fi"om the western army, by the way 
of the Allegheny and French Creek. Upon further thought, 
however, the movement from the W^est was countermanded. f 
All the arrangements for this invasion were made in INIarch 
and April, but it was the last of July before General Sullivan 
could get his men on their march from Wyoming, where they 
had gathered ; and, of course, information of the proposed 
movements had been given to the Indians and Tories, so that 
Brant, the Johnsons, and their followers stood ready to receive 
the invaders. 

They were not, however, strong enough to withstand the 
Americans; and, having been defeated at the battle of New- 
ton, were driven from village to village, and their whole coun- 
try was laid waste. Houses were burned, crops and orchards 
destroyed, and every thing done that could be thought of, to 
render the country uninhabitable. Of all these steps Mr. Stone 
speaks fully. Forty towns, he tells us, were burnt, and more 
than one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn destroy- 

li^ Stone, vol. i. p. 205. 

■j" Sparks' Washington, vol. vi. pp. 183 ct. scq. 



226 Attack on Detroit Projected. 1778. 

ed. Well did the Senecas name Washington, whose armies 
did all this, "the Town Destroyer."' Having performed this 
portion of his work, Sullivan turned homeward from the 
beautiful valley of the Genessee ; leaving Niagara, whither 
the Indians /led, as to the strong hold of British power in that 
neighborhood, untouched. This conduct, Mr. Stone thinks, 
"diliicult of solution,"* as he supposes the destruction of that 
post to have been one of the main objects of the expedition. 
Such, however, was not the fact. Originally, it had been part 
of the proposed plan to attack Niagara ; but, early in January, 
Washington was led to doubt, and then to abandon that part 
of the plan, thinking it wiser to carry on, merely, some opera- 
tions on a smaller scale against the savages." 

One of the smaller operations was from the West. On the 
22d of March, 1779, Washington wrote to Colonel Daniel 
Brodhead, who had succeeded Mcintosh at Fort Pitt, that an 
incursion into the country of the Six Nations was in prepara- 
tion, and that in connection therewith, it might be advisable 
for a force to ascend the Allegheny to Kittaning, and thence 
to Venango, and having fortified both points, to strike the Min- 
goes and Munceys upon French Creek and elsewhere in that 
neighboihood, and thus aid Gen. Sullivan in the great blow he 
was to give by his march up the Susquehanna. Brodhead 
was also directed to say to the Western Indians, that if they 
made any trouble, the whole force of the United States would 
be turned against them, and they should be cut off from the 
face of the earth. But, on the 21st of April, these orders 
were countermanded, and the western commander was direct- 
ed to prepare a rod for the Indians of the Ohio and Western 
Lakes ; and especially to learn the best time for attacking 
Detroit. Whether this last advice came too late, or was with- 
drawn again, w^e have no means of learning; but Brodhead 
proceeded as originally directed ; marched up the Allegheny, 
burned the towns of the Indians, and destroyed tl^.eir crops. f 

The immediate results of this and other equally prompt and 
severe measures, was to bring the Dclawares, Shawanese, and 
even Wyandots, to Fort Pitt, on a treaty of peace. There 
Brodhead met them, on his return in September, and a long 
conference was held, to the satisfaction of both parties. 

*Life of Brant, vol. ii. p. 30. 

t Sparks' Waabiogton, vol. vi. pp. 120, 146, 162, 205, 224, 3S4, 387. 



1779. Contests icith the Indians. 227 

FaYther west, during this summer and autumn, the Indians 
were more successful. In July, the stations being still trou- 
bled, Colonel Bowman undertook an expedition into the 
country of the Shawanese, acting upon the principle, that to 
defend yourself against Indians, you must assail them. He 
marched undiscovered into the immediate vicinity of the 
towns upon the Little Miami, and so divided and arranged 
his forces, as to ensure apparent success, one portion of the 
troops being commanded by himself, another by Colonel Ben- 
jamin Logan; but from some unexpected cause, his division 
of the whites did not co-operate fully with that led by Logan, 
and the whole body was forced to retreat, after having taken 
some booty, including one hundred and sixty horses, and 
leaving the town of the savages in cinders, but also leaving 
the fierce warriors themselves in no degree daunted or 
crippled.* 

Nor was it long before they showed themselves south of the 
Ohio again, and unexpectedly won a victory over the Ameri- 
cans of no slight importance. The facts, so far as we can 
gather them, are these : 

An expedition which had been in the neighborhood of Lex- 
ington, where the first permanent improvements were made 
in April of this year,f upon its return came to the Ohio near 
the Licking, at the very time that Colonel Rogers and Cap- 
tain Benham reached the same point on their way up the 
river in boats. A few of the Indians were seen by the com- 
mander of the little American squadron, near the mouth of 
the Licking ; and supposing himself to be far superior in 
numbers, he caused seventy of his men to land, intending to 
surround the savages ; in a few moments, however, he found 
he was himself surrounded, and after a hard fought battle, 
only twenty or twenty-five, or perhaps even fewer, of the party 
were left alive. J It was in connection with this skirmish that 
an incident occurred which seems to belong rather to a fan- 
ciful story than to sober histor}', and which yet appears to be 
well authenticated. In the party of whites was Captain 

"'•Marshall i. 91. See General Kay's oiDinion, note to Butler, 110. 

fHolmes' Annals, ii. 304; note. American Pioneer, ii. 340. Butler, 101. Marshall, 
i. 198. 

J Butler, 2d edition, 102. (In this account there is confusion; the Indians are re- 
presented as coming, on their return from Kentucky, down the Little Miami.) McClung, 
U8. 



228 Singular Co-partnership. 1779 

Robert Benham. He was one of those that fell, being* shot 
through both hips, so as to be powerless in his lower limbs; 
he dragged himself, however, to a tree-top, and there lay 
concealed from the savages after the contest was over. On 
the evening of the second day, seeing a raccoon, he shot it, 
but no sooner was the crack of his rifle heard than he distin- 
guished a human voice not far distant ; supposing it to be 
some Indian, he reloaded his gun and prepared for defence; 
but a few moments undeceived him, and he discovered that 
the person whose voice he had heard was a fellow sutferer, 
with this difference, however, that both his arms were broken! 
Here then, were the only two survivors of the combat, (ex- 
cept those who had entirely escaped,) with one pair of legs 
and one pair of arms between them. It will be easily be- 
lieved that they formed a co-partnership for mutual aid and 
defence. Benham shot the game which his friend drove to- 
wards him, and the man with sound legs then kicked it to the 
spot where he with sound arms sat ready to cook it. To pro- 
cure water, the one with legs took a hat by the brim in his 
teeth, and walked into the Licking up to his neck, while the 
man with arms was to make signals if any boat appeared in 
sight. In this way, they spent about six weeks, when, upon 
the 27th of November, they were rescued. Benham after- 
wards bought and lived upon the land where the battle took 
place; his companion, Mr. Butler tells us, was, a few years 
since, still living at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. 

But the military operations of 1779 were not those which 
were of the most vital importance to the West. The passage 
of the Land Laws by Virginia was of more consequence than 
the losing or gaining of many battles, to the hardy pioneers 
of Kentucky and to their descendants. Of these laws we can 
give at best but a vague outline, but it may be enough to 
render the subject in some degree intelligible. 

In 1779 there existed claims of very various kinds to the 
western lands : 

1. Those of the Ohio, Walpole, and other companies, 
who had a title more or less perfect, from the British Gov- 
ernment: none of these had been perfected by patents, how- 
ever. 

2. Claims founded on the military bounty warrants of 1763; 
some of these were patentcdi 



1779. Claims for Lands. 229 

3. • Henderson's claim by purchase from the Indians. 

4. Those based on mere selection and occupancy. 

5. Others resting on selection and survey, without occu- 
pancy. 

6. Claims of persons who had imported settlers ; for each 
such settler, under an old law, fifty acres were to be allowed. 

7. Claims of persons who had paid money into the old co- 
lonial treasury for land. 

8. The claims of officers and soldiers of the Revolution, 
to whom Virginia was indebted. 

These various claims were, in the first place, to be provided 
for, and then the residue of the rich vallies beyond the 
mountains might be sold to pay the debts of the parent State. 
In ]May,* the chief laws relative to this most important and 
complicated subject were passed, and commissioners were ap- 
pointed to examine the various claims which might be pre- 
sented, and give judgment according to the evidence brought 
forward ; their proceedings, however, to remain open to revi- 
sion until December 1, 1780. And as the subject was a per- 
plexed one, the following principles were laid down for their 
guidance : 

I. All surveys (without patents,) made before January 1, 
1778, by any county surveyor commissioned by William and 
Mary College, and founded upon charter ; upon importation 
rights duly proved ; upon treasury rights, (money paid into 
the colonial treasury ;) upon entries not exceeding four hun- 
dred acres, made before October 26, 1763; upon acts of the 
Virginia Assembly resulting from orders in council, &c.; 
upon any warrant from a colonial governor, for military 
services, &c. were to be good ; all other surveys null and 
void. 

II. Those loho had not made surveys, if claiming under im- 
portation rights; under treasury rights; under warrants for 
military services, were to be admitted to survey and entry. 

III. Those who had actually settled, or caused at their 
cost others to settle, on unappropriated lands, before January 
1, 1778, were to have four hundred acres, or less, as they 
pleased, for every family so settled; paying $2 25 for each 
hundred acres. 

*Morehea<i, IGO. 



230 Clai7ns for Lands. 1779. 

IV. Those who had settled in villages before January 1, 
1778, were to receive for each famil}' four hundred acres, ad- 
jacent to the village, at $2 25 per hundred acres ; and the 
village property was to remain unsurveyed until the Gene- 
ral Assembly could examine the titles to it, and do full justice. 

V. To all having settlement rights, as above described, 
was given also a right of pre-emption to one thousand acres 
adjoining the settlement, at State prices — forty cents an acre. 

VI. To those who had settled since January 1, 1778, was 
given a pre-emption right to four hundred acres, adjoining and 
including the settlement made by them. 

A'll. All the region between Green river, the Cumberland 
mountains, Tennessee, the river Tennessee, and tlie Ohio, 
was reserved, to be used for military claims. 

VIII. The two hundred thousand acres granted Henderson 
and his associates, October, 1778, along the Ohio, below the 
mouth of Green river, remained still appropriated to them. 

Having thus provided for the various classes of claimants, 
the Legislature offered the remainder of the public lands at 
forty cents an acre : the money was to be paid into the Trea- 
sury and a warrant for the quantity wished taken by the 
purchaser ; this warrant he was to take to the surveyor of the 
county in which he wished to locate, and an entry was to be 
made of every location, so special and distinct, that the ad- 
joining lands might be known with certainty. To persons 
unable to pay cash, four hundred acres were to be sold on 
credit, and an order of the county court was to be substituted 
for the warrant of the Treasury. 

To carry these laws into effect, four Virginians were sent 
westward to attend to claims ; these gentlemen opened their 
court on the 13th of October, at St. Asaphs, and continued 
their sessions at various points, until April 26, 1780, when 
they adjourned to meet no more, after having given judgment 
in favor of about three thousand claims. The labors of the 
commissioners being ended, those of the surveyor commenced; 
and Mr. George May, who had been appointed to that office, 
assumed its duties upon the 10th day of that month, the name 
of which he bore.* 

* Marshall, i. P2, 97. See also Statutes of Virginia, by B. W. Leigh, ii. 347, 31S, 350, 
353, 38S. 



1779. Virginia Land Laws. 231 

[The Governor of Virginia appointed and commissioned 
William Fleming, Edmund Lyne, James Barbour and Stephen 
Trigg as Commissioners for Kentucky ; but it was not until 
some time in October, 1779, they arrived in the country and 
opened court. The law itself was vague, and the proceed- 
ings of the court, and the certificates granted to claimants 
under the law, were more indefinite and uncertain. The de- 
scription of tracts were general, the boundaries not vrell 
defined, and consequently the claims, when located, inter- 
fered with each other. Every family that settled on waste or 
unappropriated lands belonging to Virginia, upon the western 
waters, was entitled to a pre-emption right to any quantit}^ of 
land not exceeding four hundred acres ; and, upon the pay- 
ment of two dollars and twenty- five cents on each one hun- 
dred acres, a certificate was granted, and a title in fee simple 
confirmed. 

Each settler could select and survey for pre-emption any 
quantity of waste or unappropriated lands, not exceeding one 
thousand acres to each claimant, for which forty dollars for 
each hundred acres were required. Payments could be made 
in the paper currency of Virginia, which had depreciated 
greatly.* 

We give the following specimen from the record of the 
Commissioners' Court, to illustrate the vague manner in 
which tracts of land were described in the entry: 

" Michael Stoner this da)' appeared, and claimed a light of 
settlement and pre-emption to a tract of land lying on Sto- 
ner's Fork, a branch of the south fork of the Licking, about 
twelve miles above Licking Station, by making corn in the 
country in the year 1775, and improving said land in 1776. 
Satisfactory proof being made to the court, they are of opin- 
ion that said Stoner has a right to a settlement of four hun- 
dred acres of land, including the above mentioned improve- 
ment, and a pre-emption of one thousand acres adjoining the 
same, and that a certificate issue accordingly." 

" Joseph Combs, this day claimed a right to a pre-emption 
of one thousand acres of land lying on Comb's, since called 
Howard's creek, about eight miles above Boonesborough, on 
both sides of the creek, and about three or four miles from 
the mouth of it, by improving the said land, by building a 
cabin on the premises, in the month of May, 1775. Satisfac- 
tory proof being made to the court, they are of opinion that 

■^'Life of Boone, in Sparks' Biograpby, p. 95. 



232 Commissioner's Court. 1779. 

the said Combs has a right to a pre-emptiwi of one thousand 
acres, including the said improvement, and that a certificate 
issue accordingly." 

The sessions of this court were held at different places in 
Kentucky, to accommodate the claimants, for the period of 
one year, during which, about three thousand certificates 
were granted. The foregoing extracts illustrate the vague 
and undefined descriptions of localities. Many of the claims 
were rendered null from more specific and definite surveys 
covering the same land ; and many of the old pioneers, 
amongst whom was Daniel Boone, lost the lands they had 
entered and surveyed, by subsequent law suits.* 

The winter of 1779-80, w^as uncommonly severe through- 
out the United States, and has been distinguished as ^Hhcliard 
winter.'''' The effect on the new settlements in the West was 
great distress and suffering. In Kentucky, the rivers, creeks 
and branches were frozen to an uncommon thickness where 
the water v^'as deep, and became exhausted in shallow places. 
Horses and cattle died from thirst and starvation. The snow, 
from continuous storms, became of unusual depth and con- 
tinued a long time. Men could not hunt. Families were 
overtaken in the wilderness on their journey, and their pro- 
gress arrested, and there was great suffering. The supplies 
of the settlements were exhausted, and corn became extremely 
scarce. 

When the snow melted, and the ice broken up in the rivers, 
the low grounds and river bottoms were submerged, and much 
of the stock that had survived the severity of the winter, per- 
ished in the waters. The game of the forest furnished meat, 
which was the only solid food to be obtained until the corn 
was grown. The summer brought large accessions to the 
population by emigration.] 

With the year 1780, commences the history of those troubles 
relative to the navigation of the Mississippi, which, for so long 
a time, produced the deepest discontent in the West. Spain 
had taken the American part so far as to go to war with 
Britain, but no treaty had yet been concluded between Con- 
gress and the powers at IMadrid. Mr. Jay, however, had been 
appointed ^Minister from the United States, at the Spanish 
court, where he arrived in the spring of this year, and where 



* Marahall's Kentucky, toI. i. pp. 99, 100. 



1778. Claims of France and Spain. 233 

he soon learned the grasping plans of the Southern Bourbons. 
These plans, indeed, were in no degree concealed, the French 
Minister being instructed to inform Congress, — 

That his most Christian Majesty [of France,] being informed 
of the appointment of a Minister Plenipotentiary to treat of 
an alliance between the United States and his Catholic Ma- 
jesty, [of Spain,] has signified to his Minister Plenipotentiary 
to the United States, that he wishes most earnestly Ibr such 
an alliance ; and in order to make the way more easy, has com- 
manded him to communicate to the Congress, certain articles, 
which his Catholic Majesty deems of great importance to the 
interests of his crown, and on which it is highly necessary that 
the United States explain themselves v^\\}a precision, and with 
such moderation as may consist with their essential rights. 

That the articles are, 

1. A precise and invariable western boundary to the Uni- 
ted States, 

2. The exclusive navigation of the river Mississippi. 

3. The possession of the Floridas; and, 

4. The land on the leit or eastern side of the river Missis- 
sippi. 

That on the first article, it is the idea of the Cabinet of 
Madrid, that the United States extend to the westward no far- 
ther than settlements were permitted b}' the Royal Proclama- 
tion, bearing date the 7th day of October, 1763, (that is to say, 
not west of the Alleghenies.) 

On the second, that the United States do not consider them- 
selves as having any right to navigate the river Mississippi, no 
territory belonging to them being situated thereon. 

On the third, that it is probable the King of Spain will con- 
quer the Floridas, during the course of the present war ; and 
in such an event, every cause of dispute relative thereto, be- 
tween Spain and these United States, ought to be removed. 

On the fourth, that the lands lying on the east side of the 
Mississippi, whereon the settlements were prohibited by the 
atbresaid proclamation, are possessions of the crown of Great 
Britain, and proper objects against which the arms of Spain 
may be employed, for the purpose of making ?i permanent con- 
(past for the Spanish crown. That such conquest may, pro- 
babl}', be made during the present war. That, therefore, it 
would be advisable to restrain the soiithcrn States from making- 
any settlements or conquests in these territories. That the 
Council of ^Madrid consider the United States, as having no 
claim to those territories, either as not having had possession 
of them, before the present war, or not having any foundation 
for a claim in the right of the sovereignty of Great Britain, 
whose dominion they have abjured.* 

« See Pitkin's History of tlie United States, ii. p. 92. 

15 



234 Increase of Immigration. 1779. 

These extraordinary claims of his CathoUc Majesty were in 
no respect admitted during this year, either by Mr. Jay or 
Congress, and in October a full statement of the views of the 
United States, as to their territorial rights, was drawn up, 
probably by Mr. Madison, and sent to the Ambassador at 
Madrid. f Meantime, as Virginia considered the use of the 
Great Western river very necessary to her children, Governor 
Jefferson had ordered a fort to be constructed upon the Mis- 
sissippi below the mouth of the Ohio. This was done in the 
spring of the year 1780, by General G. R. Clark, who was 
stationed at the Falls ; and was named by him after the wri- 
ter of the Declaration of Independence. This fort, for some 
purposes, may have been well placed, but it was a great mis- 
take to erect it, without notice, in the country of the Chicka-' 
saws, who had thus far been true friends to the American 
cause. They regarded this unauthorized intrusion upon their 
lands as the first step in a career of conquest, and as such re- 
sented it ; while the settlers of Kentucky looked upon the 
measure with but little favor, as it tended to diminish the 
available force in their stations, which were still exposed to 
the ceaseless hostility of the Shawanese and Wyandots. 
The inhabitants of these stations, meanwhile, were increas- 
ing with wonderful rapidity under the inducements presented 
by the land laws. Emigrants crowded over the mountains as 
soon as spring opened. Three hundred large family boats 
arrived early in the year at the Falls ; and on Bcargrass 
creek was a population containing six hundred serviceable 
men.* Nor did the swarming stop with the old settlements ; 
in the southwest part of the State the hunter Maulding, and 
his four sons, built their outpost upon the Red river which 
empties into the Cumberland ; f while, sometime in the 
spring of this same year. Dr. Walker, and Colonel Henderson, 
the first visitor and first colonist of Kentucky, tried to run the 
line which should divide Virginia from Carolina, (or, as things 
are now named, Kentucky from Tennessee,) westward as far 
as the Mississippi ; an attempt in which they failed. J Nor 
was it to western lands and territorial boundaries alone that 

t Pitkin, ii. 612, 91. Life of John Jay, L 108, 4c. 

'* Butler, second edition, 99. 

t Morehead, p. 83. 

t Marshall, i. 113. Holmes' Annalg, ii. 304, note 3d. 



1780. Provision for Education. 235 

Virginia directed her attention at this time ; in May we find 
her Legislature saying that, " Whereas, it is represented to 
this General Assembly that there are certain lands within the 
county of Kentucky, formerly belonging to British subjects, 
not 5^et sold under the law of escheats and forfeitures, which 
might at a future day be a valuable fund for the maintenance 
and education of youth, and it being the interest oj this Com- 
monwealth always to promote and encourage every design which 
may tend to the improvement of the ?nind and the diffusion of use- 
ful knowledge even among its remote citizens, whose situation, in a 
barbarous neighborhood and a savage intercourse, might otherwise 
render unfriendly to science : be it therefor enacted, that eight 
thousand acres of land, within the said county of Kentucky, 
late the property of those British subjects, (Robert McKenzie, 
Henry Collins, and Alexander McKee,)- should be vested in 
trustees, ' as a free donation from this Commonwealth, for the 
purpose of a public school, or seminary of learning, to be 
erected within the said county, as soon as its circumstances 
and the state of its funds will permit.' " 

Thus was early laid the foundation of the first western 
Seminary of Literature, just five years after the forts of 
Boonesborough and Harrodsburg rose amidst the woods. 
Thus was the foundation laid for the establishment of Tran- 
sylvania University at Lexington. 

In the summer of 1780, just before the return of Boone to 
the West, the most formidable invasion of Kentucky took 
place of which her annals contain any notice. A body of six 
hundred men, Canadians and Indians, commanded by Colonel 
Byrd, a British officer, with two field-pieces, marched up the 
valley of Licking. It first appeared, on the 22d of June, be- 
fore Ruddle's station, on the south fork of that river, and re- 
quired instant surrender. The demand could not be resisted, 
as the Kentucky stockades were powerless against cannon. 
Martin's station on the same stream was next taken ; — and 
then, from some unexplained cause, the whole body of in- 
vaders — whose number was double that of all the fighting 
men east of the Kentucky river — turned right about face and 
hurried out of the country with all speed. The only reasona- 
ble explanation of the matter is, that the British commander, 
horror-stricken and terrified at the excesses and cruelties of 
his savage allies, dared not go forward in the task — by no 



236 Clark's Invasion of the Indian Country. 1780. 

means a hopeless one — of depopulating the woods of Ken- 
tucky.* 

This incursion by Byrd and his red friends, little as it had 
effected, was enough to cause Clark, who had just returned 
from his labors on Fort Jefferson, and who found at the Falls 
a letter from the Governor of Virginia, recomrhending an 
attack upon the Indian villages north of the Ohio, to take 
immediate steps for the chastisement of the savages, and 
especially for the destruction of the store which furnished 
goods to the natives. This was situated where the post de- 
stroyed by the French in 1752 had been, and was known in 
later days as Loramie's store. When, however, in accordance 
with his determination, Clark, in July, went to Harrodsburg 
to enlist recruits, he found the whole population crazy about 
land entries, Mr. May, the Surveyor, haviiig opened his office 
but two months previous. The General proposed to him to 
shut up for a time while the Indians were attended to ; the 
Surveyor in reply expressed a perfect willingness to do so in 
case General Clark would order it, but said that otherwise he 
had no authority to take such a step. The order was accord- 
ingly given, accompanied by a full statement of the reasons 
for the proceeding. The result proved, as usual, Clark's 
sagacity; volunteers flocked to his standard, and soon, with a 
thousand men, he was at the mouth of the Licking. Silently 
and swiftly from that point he proceeded to attack the towrn, 
known as Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, and then the 
Pickaway towns on Mad river. In both attacks he succeeded; 
destroying the towns, burning the crops, and thus broke down 
the influence of the British in that quarter. This expedition, 
the first efficient one ever undertaken against the Miami In- 
dians, for a time relieved Kentucky from the attack of any 
body of Indians sufficiently numerous to produce serious 
alarm.f During this period of comparative quiet, those mea- 
sures which led to the cession of the western lands to the 
United States began to assume a definite form. 

Upon the 25th of June, 1778, when the articles of con- 
federation were under di.scussion in Congress, the objections 

* Butler, 100. Marshall, i. 106, 107. Life of Boone in Sparks, 101. 

t For a particular account of this expedition, see Stipp's Miscellany, 63 to 70.— Butler 
117.— Mar.>hall i. 109.— American Pioneer, i. 34G.— Boone's Life, 102." 



1778. Controversy about Lands. 237 

of New Jersey to the proposed plan of union were brought 
forward, and among them was this : 

It was ever the confident expectation of this State, that the 
benefits derived from a successful contest were to be general 
and proportionate ; and that the property of the common 
enemy, falling in consequence of a prosperous issue of the 
war, would belong to the United States, and be appropriated 
to their use. We are therefore greatly disappointed in find- 
ing no provision made in the confederation for empowering 
the Congress to dispose of such property, but especially the 
vacant and impatented lands, commonly called the crown 
lands, for defraying the expenses of the war, and for such 
other public and general purposes. The jurisdiction ought in 
every instance to belong to the respective states, within the 
charter or determined limits of which such lands may be 
seated ; but reason and justice must decide, that the property 
which existed in the Crown of Great Britain, previous to the 
present revolution, ought now to belong to the Congress, in 
trust for the use and benefit of the United States. They have 
fought and bled for it in proportion to their respective abili- 
ties ; and therefore the reward ought not to be predilec- 
tionally distributed. Shall such States as are shut out by 
situation from availing themselves of the least advantage 
from this quarter, be left to sink under an enormous debt, 
v.diilst others are enabled, in a short period, to replace all 
their expenditures from the hard earnings of the whole con- 
federacy.* 

Nor was New Jersey alone in her views. In January, 

1779, the Council and Assembly of Delaware, while they 
authorized their Delegates to ratify the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, also passed certain resolutions, and one of them was in 
these words : 

Resolved also, That this state consider themselves justly en- 
titled to a right, in common with the members of the Union, 
to that extensive tract of country which lies to the westward 
of the frontiers of the United States, the property of which 
was not vested in, or granted to, individuals at the commence- 
ment of the present war. That the same hath been, or may 
be, gained from the king of Great Britain, or the native In- 
dians, by the blood and treasure of all, and ought therefore 
to be a common estate, to be granted out on terms beneficial 
to the United States.f 

But this protest, however positive, was not enough for 
Maryland, the representatives of which, in Congress, present- 
s'- See Secret Journal, i. p. 377. 
t See Secret Journal, i, p. 429. 



238 Controversy about Lamh. 17S0. 

ed upon the 21st of May, 1779, their instructions relative to 
confirming the mueh-talked-of bond that was to make the 
colonies one. From those instructions we select the follow- 
ing passages : 

Virginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small 
portion of the lands in question, would draw into her trea- 
sury vast sums of money ; and, in proportion to the snms 
arising from such sales, would be enabled to lessen her taxes. 
Lands comparatively cheap, and taxes comparatively low, 
with the lands and taxes of an adjacent State, would (juickly 
drain the State thus disadvantageous!}' circumstanced of its 
most useful inhabitants; its wealth and its consequence in 
the scale of the confederated States would sink of course. A 
claim so injurious to more than one-half, if not the whole of 
the United States, ought to be supported b}" the clearest evi- 
dence of the right. Yet what evidences of that right have 
been produced ? What arguments alleged in support either 
of the evidence or the right ? None that we have heard of 
deserving a serious refutation. # * * 

We are convinced, policy and justice require, that a coun- 
try unsettled at the commencement of this war, claimed by 
the British crown, and ceded to it by the treaty of Paris, if 
wrested from the common enemy by the blood and treasure 
of the thirteen States, should be considered as a common pro- 
perty, subject to be parceled out by Congress, into free, con- 
venient, and independent governments, in such manner, and 
at such times as the wisdom of that assembly shall hereafter 
direct. 

Thus convinced, we should betray the trust reposed in us 
by our constituents, were we to authorize you to ratify ou 
their behalf the confederation, unless it be further explained. 
We have coolly and dispassionately considered the subject; 
we have weighed probable inconveniences and hardships 
against the sacrifice of just and essential rights; and do in- 
struct you not to agree to the confederation, unless an article, 
or articles be added thereto in conformity with our declara- 
tion. Should we succeed in obtaining such article or articles, 
then you are hereby fully empowered to accede to the con- 
federation.* 

These difliculties towards perfecting the Union were in- 
creased by the passage of the laws in Virginia, for disposing 
of the public lands ; this, as we have stated, was done in 
May, 1779. Apprehensive of the consequences. Congress, 
upon the 30th of October, in that year, resolved that Virginia 
be recommended to reconsider her Act opening a land oflice, 

*Se« Secret Journals, i. p. 435. 



1780. Controversy about Lands. 239 

and that she, and all other States claiming wild lands, be re- 
quested to grant no warrants during the continuance of the 
war. The troubles which thus threatened to arise from the 
claimsof Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, 
to the lands which other colonies regarded as common proper- 
ty, caused New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass 
an act which gave to the Delegates of that State power to 
cede the western lands claimed by her for the benefit of the 
United States. This law was laid before Congress on the 7th 
of March, 1780, but no step seems to have been taken until 
September 6th, 1780, when a resolution passed that body 
pressing upon the States claiming western lands the wisdom 
of giving up their claims in favor of the whole country; and 
to aid this recommendation, upon the 10th of October, was 
passed the following resolution — which formed the basis of 
all afier action, and was the first of those legislative meas- 
ures which have thus far resulted in the creation of the States 
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan* — 

No. 9. Resolved, — That the unappropriated lands that may 
be ceded or relinquished to the United States, by any particu- 
lar State, pursuant to the recommendation of Congress of 
the 6th day of September last, shall be disposed of for the 
common benefit of the United States, and be settled and 
formed into distinct republican States, which shall become 
members of the Federal Union, and have the same rights of 
sovereignty, freedom and independence, as the other States ; 
that each State which shall be so formed shall contain a suit- 
able extent of territory, not less than 100 nor more than 150 
miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit : 
that the necessary and reasonable expenses which any par- 
ticular State shall have incurred since the commencement of 
the present war, in subduing any British posts, or in maintain- 
ing forts or garrisons within and for the defence, or in acqui- 
ring any part of the territory that may be ceded or relinquished 
to the United States, shall be reimbursed. 

That the said lands shall be granted or settled at such times, 
and under such regulations, as shall hereafter be agreed on by 
the United States in Congress assembled, or in any nine or 
more of them.f 

Such were the steps taken in relation to the great western 
wilderness during the year of which we are treating. 

[Kentucky was divided into three counties, by the Legisla- 

«01d Journals, iii. 384 385, 516, 535, 582.— Land Laws, 338. 
■fSce Land Laws, p. 338. 



240 Projected Attack on Detroit. 1780. 

ture of Virginia, in ?\ovember, and a civil and military organi- 
zation provided in each. These were Jeflerijon, Fayette, and 
Lincoln. John Todd, an estimable man, was made Colonel, 
and Daniel Boone, Lieut. Colonel of Fayette county ; John 
Floyd was appointed Colonel, and William Pope, Lieut. Co- 
lonel of Jefferson county; Benjamin Logan was Colonel, and 
Stephen Trigg, Lieut. Colonel of Lincoln county. The three 
regiments were formed into a brigade, and placed under the 
command of Gen. G. R. Clark. 

Every county had a court of qualified civil and criminal 
jurisdiction; but there was no court competent to try capital 
offences nearer than Richmond, Virginia.*] 

In December of that year, the plan of conquering Detroit 
was renewed again. In 1779 that conquest might have been 
effected by Clark had he been supported by any spirit; in Janua- 
ry 1780, the project was discussed between Washington and 
Brodhead, and given up or deferred, as too great for the means 
of the Continental establishment ; in the following October so 
weak was that establishment that Fort Pitt itiielf was threatened 
by the savages and British, while its garrison, destitute of bread, 
altliough there was an abundance in the country, were half dis- 
posed to mutiny. Under these circumstances, Congress being 
powerless for action, Virginia proposed to carry out the origi- 
nal plan of her western General, and extend her operations 
to the Lakes; we find, in consequence, that an application 
was made by Jefferson to the Commander-in chief for aid, and 
that on the 29th of December, an order was given by him on 
Brodhead for artillery, tools, stores and men.f How far the 
preparations for this enterprise were carried, and \\\\\y they 
were abandoned, we have not been able to discover; but upon 
the 25th of April, 1781, Washington wrote to General Clark, 
warning him that Connolly, who had just been exchanged, 
was expected to go from Canada to Venango, (Franklin, 
mouth of French creek,^ with a force of refugees, and thence 
to Fort Pitt, with blank commissions for some hundreds of dis- 
satisfied men believed to be in that vicinity .J From this it 
would seem probable that the Detroit expedition was not 
abandoned at that time. 

•Marshall, i. p. 111.— Butler, 114. 

tSparks' Washington, vi. 433; vii. 270, 343. 

X Sparks' Washington, viii. 25. — This letter is not in the Inde.x to Mr. Sparks' work. 



1780. Condition of St. Louis. 241 

It was in May, 1780, that an Act was passed for establishing 
the town of Louisville. We have mentioned the survey of 
the lands at the Falls by Bullitt, in 1773, on account of John 
Connolly, and also the advertisement of that gentleman and 
John Campbell, dated April 3, 1774. Connolly, however, as 
a tory, had forfeited his title, and in the present year, Virginia 
proceeded to dispose of his share in the one thousand acres 
at the Falls of the Ohio. But as Campbell, the apparent 
joint owner, was in captivity in 1780, final action was delayed 
until his return. This having taken place, successive acts in 
May and October, '83, and '84, were passed protecting and 
securing his interests while the share of his refugee partner 
was disposed of.* 

[We now return to the condition of St. Louis. The troubles 
which followed the attempt of Spain to take possession of 
Lower Louisiana, left the upper settlements for some years in 
the hands of the French, inv/hose possession it remained until 
1770. According to the archives, M. St. Ange continued to 
officiate as commandant until that j'ear. 

On the 29th of November, 1770, Piernas, the Spanish Com- 
mandant, arrived at St. Louis, but there is no official docu- 
ment or record to show that he exercised the functions of his 
office until February, 1771. Of his administration we give 
the language of Wilson Primm, Esq., in his oration at the 
"Celebration of the Anniversary" in 1847. 

The inhabitants were soon reconciled to the change of do- 
minion, for Piernas tempered all his official acts with a spirit 
of mildness, which characterized the course of nearly all his 
successors. Such measures, were, indeed, imperatively re- 
quired towards men who had come with ill humor under the 
Spanish power, and who would not, otherwise, have hesitated 
to follow the example before set, by their brethren at IScw 
Orleans. 

The policy thus pursued, brought about the strongest at- 
tachment to Spain ; and when, in 1800, the retrocession to 
France took place, the people manifested the deepest regret 
and dissatisfaction. 

The mildness of the form of government, the liberal spirit 
with which grants of valuable lands were made, in connection 
with the advantages which the trade of the country presented, 
soon attracted immigration from the Canadas, and Lower 
Louisiana. Settlements were formed along the Missouri and 

■'■"Collection of Acts, &c., relative to Louisville, 1S37, pp- 3-6. 



242 Condition of St. Louis. 1780. 

Mississippi rivers ; and as early as 1767, Vide Pochr, after- 
wards called Caronddct, in honor of the Baron de Caronde- 
let. was founded by Delor de Tregette. In 1776, Florisant, 
afterwards called St. Ferdinand, in honor of the King of 
Spain, was founded by Beaurosier Duaegant; and in 1769, 
Lcs Petite Cotes, now St. Charles, was established by Blan- 
chette Chasseur; and numcrousothcr small settlements sprang 
up, on the borders of the two rivers before named, and in the 
interior of the country. 

Piernas was succeeded in his ofHce of Lieutenant Governor, 
by Don Francisco Cruzat, in 1775, and he in his turn was sup- 
planted by Don Fernando de Leyba, in the year 1778. 

At this time a material change had taken place in the po- 
litical relations which had previously existed between the 
European powers whieh claimed the northern portion of the 
American continent. 

The provinces had declared their independence of England, 
had published to the world, in language which even an un- 
willing memory could not foroet,.the principles of self-govern- 
ment and of* untrammelled freedom which belong to man 
wherever born, and wherever might be his home. England 
had called them traitors, and had treated them as rebels; she 
had not hesitated, in her proud resentment, to use the most un- 
usual and barbarous means to enforce a blind and servile 
obedience to her power. But the American people remained 
unappalled in the direful conflict that ensued. Trusting in 
the justice and holiness of their cause, they eventually remain- 
ed unconquered, because they willkd to be free. 

At the same time, in France, the faint glimmerings of man's 
rights to freedom from vassalage, began to be perceived, and 
tiie elements were at work, which, at a later period, led to the 
horrors of the Revolution, but eventually enabled the French 
people to establish, through a baptism of blood, a limited and 
constitutional monarchy. 

It must not be supposed that such a commotion in the po- 
litical world would be unfelt or unnoticed upon the western 
shores of the Mississippi. On the contrary, the feelings of 
aversion to England which had prompted the people of St. 
Loui:j to escape from the jurisdiction of the eastern shore, still 
lingered in their hearts; and although Spain had exercised 
the most paternal rule over them, still they could not view 
unmoved, the conflict which was raging almost within their 
hearing, between the spirit of tyranny on the one hand, and 
the spirit of freedom on the other. 

The history of the invasion of St. Louis by the British and 
Indians in 1780, is involved in perplexity, owing to the state- 
ments made, and repeated by respectable authorities, concern- 
ing the proffered aid of Gen. G. R. Clark from the Illinois 



1780. Clark's Assistance to St. Louis. 243 

country, and the denial by others equally entitled to credit. 
The Editor to this edition, has spared no pains to decide this 
question, and has been obliged to leave it in some doubt, 
though he is satisfied there is some truth in the statement. 
To give the reader a full view of the subject, he will give the 
somewhat contradictory statement of different authors, and 
the result of his own reflections. 

W. Primm, Esq., an intelligent citizen of the place, and 
who has had access to every existing record, civil and eccle- 
siastical, gives the following :* 

In February, 1779, Col. George Rogers Clark, under au- 
thority of Virginia, after having struck many severe blows 
against the British power on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 
was in the neighborhood of St. Louis, raising men from 
amongst the French inhabitants of Cahokia and Ka.'^kaskia, 
for the purpose of capturing St. Vincent's, now called Vin- 
cennes, and which was then in possession of the English under 
Governor Hamilton. 

Understanding from some source, that an attack was med- 
itated upon St. Louis, by a large force under British influence, 
that, too, at a time when Spain was contending with England 
for the possession of the Floridas, Clark, with that chivalrous 
spirit which has earned for him one of the brightest pages in 
American history, at once offered to the Lieutenant Governor 
Leyba, all the assistance in his power to repel the contem- 
plated attack. The offer of assistance was rejected, on the 
ground that no danger was really apprehended. 

In my former sketch of the history of St. Louis, I had placed 
the time of this offer by Clark in 1780.* Satisfied that it was 
made anterior to that year, and whilst he was raising troops 
for the re-capture of Vincennes, 1 am not, however, permitted 
to withdraw the statement that such an ofier was made. The 
testimony of witnesses then living, upon whose authority it 
was then made, leaves in my mind no room to doubt the cor- 
rectness of \\iefacl. In this, too, I am borne out by the au- 
thority of Stoddard in his Historical Sketches of Louisiana. 

The territory on which St. Louis stood, that on which sev- 
eral other towns had been located, and the surrounding countr}', 
were claimed by the Illinois Indians, but they had acquiesced 
in the intrusion of the whites, and had never molested them. 
But when the rumor of an attack upon the town began to 
spread abroad, the people became alarmed for their safety. 

The town was almost destitute of works of defence, but the 
inhabitants amounting to a little more than a hundred men, 
immediately proceeded to enclose it with a species of wall, 

* Celebration, February, 1847. 



2i4 Attack made on St. Louis. 1780. 

fonned of the trunks of small trees, planted in the ground, 
the interstices being filled up with earth. The wall was some 
five or six feet high. It started from the half moon, a kind of 
fort in that form, situated on the river, near the present F/oa^ 
in^ D<x-k, and ran from thence a little above the brow of the 
hill, in a semi-circle, until it reached the ^Mississippi, some- 
what above the bridge, now on Second street. Three gates 
were formed in it, one near the bridge, and two others on 
the hill, at the points where the roads from the north-western 
and south-western parts of the common fields came in. At 
each of these gates was placed a heavy piece of ordnance, 
kept continually charged, and in good order. Having com- 
pleted this work, and hearing no more of the Indians, it was 
supposed that the attack ha 1 been abandoned. Winter 
passed away, and spring came; still, nothing was heard of 
the Indians. The inhabitants were 'led to believe that their 
apprehensions were groundless, from the representations of 
the commandant Leyba, who did everything in his power to 
dissipate their anxiety, assuring them that there was no dan- 
ger, and that the rumor of the proposed attack was false. The 
month of 31 ay came, the labors of planting were over, and 
the peaceful and happy villagers gave themselves up to such 
pursuits and pleasures as suited their taste. 

A few days before the attack, an old man named Quenelle, 
being on the opposite side of the river, saw another Frenchman 
by the name i^f Ducharme, who had formerly absconded from 
St. Louis, who told him of the projected attack. The Govern- 
or called him "an old dotard," and ordered him to prison. 

In the meantime, numerous bands of the Indians living on 
the lakes and the Mississi|)pi — the Ojibeways, Menomenies, 
Winnebagoes, Sioux, Sacs, 6z.c.. together with a large number 
of Canadians, amounting, in all, to upwards of fourteen hun- 
dred — had assembled on the eastern shore of the [Mississippi, 
a little above St. Louis, awaiting the 26th of 3Iay, the day 
fixed for the attack. The '^Sth of May was the feast of Corpus 
C/iristi, a day highly venerated by the inhabitant's, who were 
all Catholics. Had the a.ssault taken place then, it would 
have been fatal to them; for, after divine service, all, men, 
women and children, had flocked to the prairie to gather 
strawben-ies, which were that season very abundant and fine. 
The town, being left perfectly unguarded, could have been 
taken with ease, and the unsuspecting inhabitants, who were 
roaming about in search of fruit, could have been massacred 
without resistance. Fortunately, however, a few only of the 
enemy had crossed the river, and ambushed themselves in the 
prairie. The villagers frequently came so near them, in the 
course of the day, that the indians.from their places of conceal- 



1780. Attack made on St. Louis. 245 

ment, could have reached them with their hands. But they 
knew not how many of the whites were still remaining in the 
town, and in the absence of their coadjutors, feared to attack, 
lest then^ preconcerted plan might be defeated. 

On the '26th, the body of the Indians crossed, and marched 
directly towards the fields, expecting to find the greater part 
of the villagers there ; but in this they were disappointed, a 
few only having gone out to view their crops. These perceiv- 
ed the approach of the savage foe, and immediately com- 
menced a retreat towards the town, the most of them taking 
the road that led to the upper gate, nearly through the mass 
of Indians, and followed by a shower of bullets. The firing- 
alarmed those who were in town, and the cr}', "To arms ! to 
arms !" was heard in every direction. They rushed towards 
the works, and threw open the gates to their brethren. The 
Indians advanced slowly, but steadily, towards the town, and 
the inhabitants, though almost deprived of hope, by the vast 
superiority in numbers of the assailants, determined to defend 
themselves to the last. 

In expectation of an attack, Silvio Francisco Cartabona, a 
governmental officer, had gone to Ste. Genevieve for a com- 
pany of militia, to aid in defending the town, in case of neces- 
sity; and had, at the beginning of the month, returned with 
sixty men, who were quartered on the citizens. As soon as 
the attack commenced, however, neither Cartabona nor his 
men could be seen. Either through fear or treachery, the 
greater part concealed themselves in a garret, and there re- 
mained until the Indians had retired. The assailed, being de- 
prived of a considerable force by this shameful defection, were 
still resolute and determined. About fifteen men were posted 
at each gate ; the rest were scattered along the line of defence, 
in the most advantageous manner. 

When within proper distance, the Indians began an irregu- 
lar fire, which was answered with showers of grape shot from 
the artillery. The firing, for a while, was warm; but the In- 
dians perceiving that all their efforts would be inefiectual, on 
account of the entrenchments, and deterred bj- the cannon, to 
which they were unaccustomed, from making a neaier ap- 
proach, suifered their zeal to abate, and deliberately retired. 
At this stage of aflairs, the Lieutenant Governor made his ap- 
])earance. The first intimation that he received of what was 
going on, was by the discharge of artillery, on the part of the 
inhabitants. He immediately ordered several pieces of can- 
non, which were posted in front of the government house, to 
be spiked and filled with sand, and went, or rather icas rolled 
in a wheelbarrow, to the scene of action. In a very perempto- 
ry tone, he commanded the inhabitants to cease firing, and 
return to their houses. Those posted at the lower gate, did 
not hear the order, and consequently kept their stations. The 



246 Massacre near St. Louis. 1780. 

commandant perceived this, and ordered a cannon to be fired 
at them. They had barely time to throw themselves on the 
ground, when the volley passed over them, and struck the 
wail, tearing a great part of it down. These proceedings, as 
well as the whole tenor of his conduct, after the first rumor of 
an attack, gave rise to suspicions, very unfavorable to the 
Lieutenant Governor. It was freely said, that he was the 
cause of the attack, that he was connected with the British, 
and that he had been bribed into a dereliction of duty, which, 
had not Providence averted, would have doomed them to de- 
struction. Under the pretext of proving to them that there 
was no danger of an attack, he had, a few days before it oc- 
curred, sold to the traders all the ammunition belonging to 
the government; and they would have been left perfectly des- 
titute and defenceless, had they not found, in a private house, 
eight barrels of powder, belonging to a trader, which they 
seized in the name of the king, upon the first alarm. These 
circumstances gave birth to a strong aversion to the Comman- 
dant, which evinces itself, even at this day, in execrations of 
his ch aractcr, whenever his name is mentioned to those who 
have known him. Representations of his conduct, together 
with a detailed account of the attack, were sent to New Or- 
leans by a special messenger, and the result was, that the 
Governor General reappointed Francisco Cruzat to the office 
of Lieutenant Governor. 

As soon as it was ascertained that the Indians had retired 
from the neighborhood, the inhabitants proceeded to gather 
and bury the dead, that lay scattered in all parts of the prai- 
rie. Seven were at first found, and buried in one grave. Ten 
or twelve others, in the course of a fortnight, were discovered 
in the long grass that bordeied the marshes. The acts of the 
Indians were accompanied by their characteristic ferocity. 
Some of their victims were horribly mangled. With the ex- 
cP{)tion of one individual, the whites who accompanied the 
Indians, did not take part in the butcheries that were commit- 
ted. A young man, named Calve, was found dead, his skull 
split open, and a tomahawk, on the blade of which was writ- 
ten the word, "Calcc,''^ sticking in his brain. He was sup- 
j)osed to have fallen by the hand of his uncle. Had those 
who discovered the Indians in the prairie, iled to the lower 
gate, they would have escaped; but the greater pait of them 
took the road that led to the upper gate, through the very 
ranks of the enemy, and were thus exposed to the whole of 
their fire. About twenty persons, it is computed, met their 
death in endeavoring to get within the entrenchments. None 
of those within them were injured, and none of the Indians 
wore killed ; at least, none of them were found. Their ob- 
ject was not plunder, for they did not attempt, in their retreat, 
to take with them any of the cattle or horses that were in the 



1780. Traitorous Conduct of Lcyba. 247 

prairie, and which they might have taken ; nor did they at- 
tack any of the neighboring towns, where the danger would 
have been less, and the prospect of success greater. The 
only object they had in view, was the destruction of St. 
Louis ; and this would seem to favor the idea that they were 
instigated by the English, and gives good ground, when con- 
nected with other circumstances, to believe that Leyba was 
their aider and abettor. 

Thus ended an attack, which, properly conducted, might 
have been destructive to the infant town, and which, from 
the number of the enemy, and the danger incurred, was 
calculated to impress itself deeply on the minds of those 
who witnessed it. It forms an era in the history of the 
place ; and the year in which it occurred, has ever since 
been designated by the inhabitants as the year of the blow — 
'■'■Vannee du Coup.'''' 

Leyba, aware that representations of his course had been 
specially forwarded to the Governor General at New Or- 
leans, and fearful of the consequences, and unable to bear 
up under the load of scorn and contempt which the inhabi- 
tants heaped upon him, died a short time after the attack, 
suspected by many of having hastened his end by poison. 

Upon his death, Cartabona performed the functions of 
government until the following year, when Cruzat returned 
to St. Louis, and assumed the command as Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor a second time. 

There can be no doubt that Leyba, like another Arnold, 
was seduced into defection from his duty, and that it was only 
the unflinching daring of the people of St. Louis, that saved 
this infant outpost from utter destruction. 

The population of St. Louis at the period of this attack 
w^as about eight or nine hundred, of all ages and classes. 
Hutchins* says (l'/71) "At Ste. Genevieve there were two 
hundred and eight whites and eighty negroes, capable of 
bearing arms; and at St. Louis, four hundred and fifteen 
whites and forty blacks. He further states there were one 
hundred and twenty houses in St. Louis, some of which were 
of stone, large and commodious." The whole white popula- 
tion he makes eight hundred, and of negroes, one hundred 
and fifty. 

Stoddard, in his "Sketches of Louisiana," (p. 79) says : 

" The commandant of Michilimackinac in 1780, assembled 
about fifteen hundred Indians, and one hundred and forty 
English, and attempted the reduction of St. Louis, the capital 

*Historical and Topographical Description of Louisiana. 



24S Sketches of Major Stoddard. 1780. 

of Upper Louisiana. During the short time they were be- 
fore that town, sixty of the inhabitants were killed, and thirty 
taken prisoners. Fortunately, General Clark was on ihe op- 
posite side of the Mississippi with a considerable lorce. On 
his appearance at ^t. Louis with a strong detachment, the 
Indians were amazed. They had no disposition to quarrel 
with any other than Louisianians, and charged the English with 
deception. In fine, as the jealousy of the Indians was ex- 
cited, the English trembled for their safety, and therefore 
secretly abandoned their auxiliaries, and made the best of 
their way into Canada. The Indians then returned to their 
homes in peace. 

This expedition, as appears, was not sanctioned by the Eng- 
lish court, and the private property of the commandant was 
seized to pay the expenses of it — most likely because it proved 
. unfortunate." 

Major Amos Stoddard, author of the " Sketches, Historical 
and Descriptive, of Louisiana,''^ was an officer of the United 
States, and constituted the agent of France to receive Upper 
Louisiana from the Spanish authorities and make the transfer 
to the United States. He was an accomplished scholar in 
science and general literature, read French, and was in the 
country in the discharge of his official duties from j\Iarch, 
1804 to 1809. A part of the time his head quarters were in 
St. Louis. He was personally acquainted and intimate with 
the more intelligent inhabitants of the place, had access to 
public archives, which he carefully examiued, and made ex- 
tensive excursions throughout the country. Respectable men 
in most of the districts, and especially at St. Louis, furnished 
him with such local information as they possessed. And in 
carefully comparing his statements in general with the pub- 
lished authorities and other documents from ^^•hence he 
derived many facts in his Sketches, we find him accurate. 
Yet, in this statement of the attack he is certainly inaccurate, 
though, doubtless, he wrote as he was informed from the re- 
collections of the people. The number of British officers and 
troops is much overrated. And, certainly. General Clark at 
the time of the invasion was not "on the opposite side of the 
JMississippi," nor did he make "his appearance at St. Louis 
with a strong detachment," for at that eventful crisis, he icas 
below the mouth of the Ohio establishing Fort Jcjfcrson. From 
thence he proceeded by land to Ilarrodsburg in Kentuck)'', in 
the month of June ; was at the Falls (Louisville) the 14th of 



249 



1780. Document of Mr. Nicollet. 

July, and by the 2nd of August had an army of one thousand 
men raised to march against the Indians in Ohio. Besides, 
Colonel John Todd, was "County Lieutenant," or command- 
ant at Kaskaskia, in May, 17S0. 

As subsequent historians have followed mainly the state- 
ment of Major Stoddard, we have no occasion to examine 
their testimon}-. 

Mr. Nicollet, in a documentary report of an exploration of 
the Upper Mississippi, published by the United States' Senate 
February, 1841, containing a "Sketch of the Early History of 
St. Louis," and who examined the papers of the late Col. Au- 
guste Chouteau, denies the offer or the interference of Gen 
Clark, alleging that, "with his men, he then occupied the impor- 
tant post of Kaskaskia, which is more than fifty-six miles S. 
E. of St.Louis; and that, consequently, this gallant officer could 
not have had time, even if it had fell within the line of his 
duty, to aid in an affair that concerned the Spaniards and the 
British, which was planned as a surprise, and lasted but a few 
hours." 

Mr. Nicollet was mistaken in the date, or else a typographi- 
cal error crept into the printed copy, for it was not the 6th, 
but the 26th, of May the assault was made. This is evident 
from the records of the church, concerning the burial of the 
slain, and is sustained by Mr. Primm in the document already 
given. He was also mistaken in supposing General Clark to 
have been at Kaskaskia at that time. Judge Martin* says • 

" In the fall, [1780] the British commanding officer at Mich- 
illimackinac, with about one hundred and forty men from 
his garrison, and near fourteen hundred Indians, attacked the 
Spanish post at St. Louis ; but Col. Clark, who was still at 
Kaskaskia, came to its relief The Indians, who came from 
MichiUimackinac, having no idea of fighting any but Span- 
iards, refused to act against Ameiicans, and complained of 
being deceived. Clark released about fifty prisoners that had 
been made, and the enemy made the best"^of his way home." 

Judge Martin refers to Stoddard. Judge Hall has o-iven a 
graphic description of the assault, the substance of which he 
had from the Address of W. Primm, Esq., before the St. Louis 
Lyceum, in 1831, and subsequently published in the Illinoi 
Magazine, of which Judge Hall was Editor. He says nothin< 
about the interference of General Clark. f 

••'ilistoryof Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 5.3. 
t Sketches of the West, vol. 1 : 171, 172. 

16 



lois 



250 The Explanation. 1780. 

Amidst this conflicting testimony, the reader naturally in- 
quires, what is the truth ? 

We subjoin the following facts and suggestions : 

There was constant intercourse between the inhabitants of 
St. Louis and those of Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and each 
party felt interested in the welfare of the other. 

In the spring of 1779, when Clark was at Cahokia and 
Kaskaskia, St. Louis was threatened by a British and Indian 
force from the North. This the gallant General learned from 
the Indians of Illinois, who were friendly, and he communi- 
cated the intelhgence to the inhabitants, and, through them, 
to Governor Leyba, by the medium of his French associates of 
Illinois. It was then he proftered aid, should the town be at- 
tacked. When the attack was made, a year after, he had 
left the Illinois country, and was at the Chickasaw Bluffs, 
establishing Fort Jefl!erson, to which point he went early in 
1780, by the Mississippi river. 

This proffered aid, in case of an invasion, made in 1779, 
was not without its effect. It produced a friendly feeling in 
St. Louis, and the contiguous settlements, to the Americans, 
which was subsequently manifested in the encouragement 
given by the commandants to emigration across the Missis- 
sippi. We conceive the statement of Mr. Primm, heretofore 
given, to be the correct one. 

There is one fact that must remain unexplained. Taking 
the lowest statement of the invading force, and, M'ith an im- 
becile commander, as Leyba unquestionably was, they could 
have destroyed St. Louis, and massacred all its inhabitants. 
It appears, from all accounts, the Indians, after killing and 
scalping about twenty persons, who were out of the town in 
the fields, and making an attack on the gates, suddenly- re- 
tired, refusing to co-operate any longer with their British al- 
lies. 

Tradition says, they were instigated to make this attack by 
a renegade French trader, in revenge for some injury he had 
received at St. Louis, and that finding persons they knew, and 
with whom they had formerly associated, and whom they 
recognized as friends, they withdrew of their own accord. 
Be this as it may, we regard their relinquishment of the at- 
tack as a merciful interposition of Providence. 



1780. Proposition Made hy Virginia. 251 

"In the autumn of 1780, La Balme, a native of France, 
made an attempt to carry an expedition from Kaskaskia 
against Detroit. With twenty or thirty men, he marched 
from Kaskaskia to Post V'incennes, where he was joined by a 
small reinforcement. He then moved up the Wabash, and 
reached the British trading post, Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head of 
the Maumee. After plundering the traders, and some of the 
Indians, he marched from the post, and encamped near the 
river Aboite. A party of the Miami Indians attacked the 
encampment in the night. La Balme and several of- his fol- 
lowers were slain, and the expedition was defeated." *] 

We now enter on the Annals of 1781. 

Virginia, in accordance with the recommendation of Con- 
gress already noticed, upon the 2d of January of this year, 
agreed to yield her western lands to the United States, upon 
certain conditions; among which were these: 1st, no person 
holding ground under a purchase from the natives to him or 
his grantors, individually, and no one claiming under a grant 
or charter from the British crown, inconsistent with the char- 
ter or customs of Virginia, was to be regarded as having a 
valid title ; and 2d, the United States were to guarantee to 
Virginia all the Territory south-east of the Ohio to the Atlan- 
tic, as far as the bounds of Carolina. These conditions Con- 
gress would not accede to, and the Act of Cession, on the 
part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was any thing farther 
done until 1783.t 

Early in the same month in which Virginia made her first 
Act of Cession, a Spanish captain, with sixty-five men, left 
St. Louis, for the purpose of attacking some one of the Brit- 
ish posts of the north-west. Whether this attempt originated 
in a desire to revenge the English and Indian siege of St. 
Louis, in the previous year, or whether it was a mere pre- 
tence to cover the claims about that time set up by Spain to 
the western country, in opposition to the colonies, which she 
claimed to be aiding, it is perhaps impossible to say. But 
these facts — that the point aimed at, St. Joseph's, was far in 
the interior, and that this crusade was afterwards looked to 
by the court of Spain as giving a ground of territorial right — 
make it probable that the enterprise was rather a legal one 
against the Americans, than a military one against the Eng- 

* Dillon's Indiana, vol. 1, p. 190. 
t Old Journals, ir. 265 to 267. 



252 Birth of Mary Hcckcwcldcr. 1781, 

lish : and this conclusion is made stronger b}- the fact, that 
the Spaniards, having taken the utterly unimportant post of 
St. Joseph, and having claimed the country as belonging to the 
King of Spain, by right of conquest, turned back to the quiet 
west bank of the Mississippi again, and left the Long Knives 
to prosecute the capture of Detroit, as they best could.* 

In the spring of this year, an army of eight hundred men, 
under command of Colonel Brodhead, marched from Wheel- 
ing, the place of rendezvous, to destroy some Indian settle- 
ments at Coshocton, near the forks of the Muskingum river. 
This army reached the principal village, on the east side of 
the river, and took a number of prisoners, of which sixteen 
were killed with the tomahawk, and scalped. Their march 
further, was arrested by the river, which was unusually high, 
and the villages on the west side escaped. destruction, and the 
army re tired, f 

Upon the l6th of April in this year, was born at Salem, 
upon the Muskingum river, Mary Hecke welder, daughter of 
the widely-known Moravian missionary — the earliest born of 
white American children, who first saw the light north of the 
Ohio; and in her language, rather than our own, we now 
give some incidents relative to the Christian Delawares and 
their teachers. 

Soon after my birth, times becoming very troublesome, the 
settlements were oltcn in danger from war parties ; and finally, 
in the beginning of September, of the same year, we were all 
made prisoners. First, four of the missionaries were seized 
by a part}- of Huron warriors, and declared prisoners of war; 
they were then led into the camp of the Delawares, where 
the death-song was sung over them. Soon after they had 
secured them, a number of warriors marched olf for Salem 
and Slurnbrun. About thirty savages arrived at the former 
place in the dusk of the evening, and broke open the mission 
house. Here they took my mother and myself prisoners, and 
having led her into the street, and placed guards over her, they 
plundered the house of every thing they could take with them 
and destroyed what was left. Then, going to take my mother 
along with them, the savages were prevailed upon, through 
the intercession of the Indian females, to let her remain at 
Salem till the next morning — the night being dark and rainy, 
and almost impossible for her to travel so far — they, at last, 

* Diplomatic Correspondence, iii. 339; riii. 150.— Secret Journals, iv. 6t, 7i. 
■{■ Dillun's Indiana, i. 190. 



1781. Sufferings of the Moravians. 253 

consented on condition that she should be brought into the 
camp the next morning, which was accordingly done, and she 
was safely conducted by our Indians to Gnadenhutten. 

After experiencing the cruel treatment of the savages for 
some time, they were set at liberty again ; but were obliged 
to leave their flourishing settlements, and forced to march 
through a dreary wilderness to Upper Sandusky. We went 
by land through Goseachguenk to the Walholding, and then 
partly by water and partly along the banks of the river, to 
Sandusky Creek. All the way I was carried by an Indian 
woman, carefully wrapt in a blanket, on her back. Our 
journey was exceedingly tedious and dangerous ; some of the 
canoes sunk, and those that were in them lost all their provi- 
sions and everything they had saved. Those that went by 
land drove the cattle, a pretty large herd. The savages now 
drove us along, the missionaries with their families usually in 
their midst, surrounded by their Indian converts. The roads 
were exceedingly bad, leading through a continuation of 
swamps. 

Having arrived at Upper Sandusky, they built small huts 
of logs and bark to screen them from the cold, having neither 
beds nor blankets, and being reduced to the greatest poverty 
and want ; for the savages had by degrees stolen almost every 
thing, both from the missionaries and Indians, on the journey. 
We lived here extremely poor, ofteii-times very little or noth- 
ing to satisfy the cravings of hunger ; and the poorest of the 
Indians were obliged to live upon their dead cattle, which 
died for want of pasture.* 

To this account, by one who is, from her age at the time, 
but a second-hand witness, we may add the following particu- 
lars. We have already mentioned the rise of the Christian- 
Indian towns upon the Muskingum. During the wars between 
the north-west savages and the Pennsylvania and Virginia 
frontier-men, the quiet converts of Post, Zeisberger, and 
Hecke welder, had any other than a pleasant position. 
The Wyandots thought they betrayed the red men's in- 
terests to their religious white kinsfolk ; the pale-faced In- 
dian-haters of the Kenawha, doubted as little that the 
" praying" Delavvares played them false, and favored the 
fierce warriors of the lakes. f Little by little these suspicions 
and jealousies assumed form, and the missionaries having 
actually been guilty of the crime of interpreting to the Dela- 

* American Pioneer, ii. 224. 

* In October, 1777, a party of Americans crossed the Ohio to attack the Moravian 
towns. — Heckewelder's Narrative, 165. 



264 The Missionai-ies on Trial. 1781. 

ware chiefs, certain letters received from Pittsburgh, measures 
were taken by the English, as early, it seems, as 1779, to re- 
move them from the American borders, and thus prevent their 
interference. No result followed at that time from the steps 
alluded to ; but in 1780 or '81, the Iroquois were asked at a 
council, held at Niagara, to remove the Muskingum Chris- 
tians, as the settlements were in the country claimed by the 
Five Nations. The New York savages were perfectly will- 
ing the thing should be done, but were not willing to do it 
themselves, so they sent to the Ottawas and Chippeways* a 
message to the effect that they might have the Moravian con- 
gregations to make soup of. The Ottawas, in their turn, de- 
clined the treat, and sent the message to the Hurons, or, as 
they are most commonly called, the Wyandots. These, 
together with Captain Pipe, the war chief of the Delawares, 
who was the enemy of the missionaries because they taught 
peace, carried the wish of the English into execution, in the 
manner narrated by the daughter of the Moravian leader. 
At Detroit, whither four of the Europeans were taken in Oc- 
tober, Heckewelder and his co-laborers were tried ; but as 
even Captain Pipe could find no other charge agninst them 
than that of interpreting the American letters above referred 
to, they were discharged and returned to their families at 
Sandusky, toward the close of Norember.f 

While the English and their red allies were thus persecut- 
ing the poor Moravians and their disciples on the one hand, 
the Americans were preparing to do the same thing, only, as 
the event proved, in a much more effectual style. In the 
spring of 1781, Colonel Brodhead led a body of troops against 
some of the hostile Delawares, upon the Muskingum. This, 
a portion of his followers thought, would be an excellent op- 
portunity to destroy the Moravian towns, and it was with dif- 
ficulty he could withhold them. lie sent word to Heckewelder, 
and tried to prevent any attack upon the members of his 
flock. In this attempt he appears to have succeeded; but he 
did not, perhaps could not, prevent the slaughter of the troops 
taken from the hostile Delawares. First, sixteen were killed, 
and then nearly twenty. A chief, who came under assurances 

* The Ojibeways or Odjibways, as it is lately written in conformity with the trne sound 
and old writing. — Schoolcraft's Algic Researches. — American State Papers, t. 707. 71S. 

t See a full account in IleckQwcIder's Narrative, 230—299. 



1781. An Ambuscade. ' 255 

of safety to Brodhead's camp, was also murdered by a noted 
partisan, named Wetzel.* From that time, the Virginians 
rested, until autumn, when the frontier-men, led by Colonel 
David Williamson, marched out expressly against the towns 
of the christian Delawares ; but they found that the Hurons 
had preceded them, and the huts and fields of the friends of 
peace M'ere deserted. f 

The particular cause of this attempt, on the part of the 
Americans, was the series of attacks made during this year by 
small bands of Indians, along the whole range of stations, 
from Laurel Hill to Green river. The details of these incur- 
sions may be found in Withers' Border Warfare, 225, and 
Marshall's Kentucky, I. 115. Among these details, the mass 
of which we, of necessity, omit, is the following, which seems 
worthy of especial notice. Squire Boone's station, near 
iShelbyville, being very much exposed, those within it deter- 
mined to seek a place of greater security : while on their way 
to the Beargrass settlements, they were attacked by the In- 
dians. Colonel Floyd, hearing of this, hastened with twenty- 
five men against the enemy, but fell into an ambuscade of 
two hundred savages, and lost half his men. Among those in 
his party was Captain Samuel Wells, with whom Floyd had 
been for some time at feud. This gentleman, as he retreated, 
saw his superior officer, but personal foe, on foot, nearly ex- 
hausted, and hard pressed by the invaders, on the point of 
falling a sacrifice to their fury ; instantly dismounting, he 
forced Colonel Floyd to take his place in the saddle, and 
being himself fresh, ran by the side of the horse, supporting 
the fainting rider, and saved the lives of both. It will readily 
be believed their enmity closed with that day.J 

Colonel Wells removed to Missouri in 1817, settled in St. 
Charles county, v/here he died, beloved and respected by his 
neighbors- 

In addition to the incursions by the northern Indians, this 

* Heekewelder's !N'arrative, 214. — Doddridge, 291, (the date is in this account 1780, but 
vre presume wrongly.) — Border Warfare, 219 ; Withers follows Doddridge, but both draw 
from Heckewelder, who says 1781. — For a full account of Lewis Wetzel, the very embodi- 
ment of the most reckless class of frontier-men, see Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 121, 
161, 169, 177. 

t Bjrder Warfare, 229. Doddridge, 262. 

X Butler, 2d edition, 119. — Marshall, i. 115. — Marshall, says this took place la April, 
Butler in September, and refers to Colonel F's. MS. letters. 



256 Officers Appointed in Kentucky. 1781. 

year witnessed the rising of the Chickasaws against Fort Jef- 
ferson, which, as we have said, had been unwisely built in 
their country without leave asked. The attack was made 
under the direction of Colbert, a Scotchman, who had ac- 
quired great influence with the tribe, and whose descendants 
have since been among the influential chiefs. The garrison 
were few in number, sickly, and half-starved; but some 
among them were fool-hardy and wicked enough to fire at 
Colbert, when under a flag of truce, which provoked the sav- 
ages beyond all control, and had not Clark arrived with rein- 
forcements, the Chickasaws would probably have had all the 
scalps of the intruders. As it was, the fort was relieved, but 
was soon after abandoned, as being too far from the settle- 
ments, and of very little use at any rate.* 

Meantime the internal organization of Kentucky was pro- 
ceeding rapidly. Floyd, Logan, and Todd were made county 
Lieutenants of Jeflerson, Lincoln, and Fayette, with the rank 
of Colonel ; while William Pope, Stephen Trigg, and Daniel 
Boone, were made Lieutenant Colonels, to act for the others 
in case of need. Clark was made Brigadier General, and 
placed at the head of military aflairs, his head quarters being 
at the Falls, between which point and the Licking he kept a 
row galley going, to intercept parties of Indians, though to 
very little purpose. George May, who had been surveyor for 
the whole county of Kentucky, after the division, had Jefferson 
assigned him ; while Thomas Marshall was appointed to the 
same post in Fayette, and James Thompson in Lincoln. Of the 
three, however, only the last opened his office during the year, 
and great was the discontent of those waiting to enter the 
fertile lands of the two counties which were thus kept out of 
their reach; a discontent ten-fuld the greater in consequence 
of the laws of Virginia in relation to her depreciated curren- 
cy, the effect of which was to make land cost in specie only 
half a cent an acre. 

[Towards the autumn of 1781, marauding parties of In- 
dians again visited the frontiers of Kentucky. Boonesborough 
being now an interior station remained unmolested. The 
people at a station in the vicinity of Shelbyville became 
alarmed at Indian signs and attempted to remove to Fort Nel- 

*Butler, 2d edition, 119. 



1781. Attack on ths McAfee Station. . 257 

son. They were attacked by a large body of Indians, defeated 
and dispersed. 

Amongst the resolute and active men among the pioneers 
of Kentucky were the iMcAffees, three brothers, Samuel, 
James and Robert McAffee, who made a station in the vicinity 
of Harrodsburgh. They were vigorous, athletic men, of 
honorable principles, and members of the Presbytei'ian church. 
Like the other pioneers, they were frequently brought into 
deadly conflict with the Indians. 

It was in the month of May, 1781, that Samuel McAffee 
and another man were fired on by Indians and the man fell. 
McAfiee turned and ran towards tlie fort, but in a few yards 
met another Indian in the path. Each attempted to fire at 
the same instant, but the Indian's gun missed fire, while 
McAffee shot him through the heart. The two other brothers, 
hearing the guns, came to the rescue, but had a most peri- 
lous escape to the fort. 

In a few moments the fort was assailed by a large party, 
and while the men used their rifles, the women cast the 
bullets, and provided refreshments. The firing was heard at 
other stations, and Major jMcGary and forty men were soon 
on the trail of the Indians, whom they overtook and routed.* 

One other event will close the western annals of 1781^ and 
no more important event has yet been chronicled : it was the 
large emigration of young unmarried women, into a region 
abounding in young unmarried men ; its natural result was 
the rapid increase of population.] 

*Marsbairs Kentucky, i. UT. 



CHAPTER IX. 
THRILLING INCIDENTS. 

Massacre of the Moravian Indians— Capture and burning of C; bnel Crawford — Defeat of 
Colonel Laugher}-— Attack on Bryant's Station — Battle of the Blue Licks — Expedition 
against the Indians in Ohio hj General Clark — Peace with Great Britain — Instructions 
to Indian Cjmmissioners — Difficulties about cirrj-ing out certain conditions of the 
treaty. 

1 [ We have already noticed the establishment of Fort JefTer- 
son, on the Mississippi, a few miles below the mouth of 
the Ohio, by General Clark. The country was claimed by 
the Chickasaw Indians, and they remonstrated at this intrusion 
on their territory. The remonstrance being disregarded, they 
prepared to repel the invaders by force. Early la the sum- 
mer of 1781, when the garrison was reduced to about thirty 
men, many of whom were invalids, the Indians attacked the 
fort with a large force. These Chickasaws were led by Col- 
bert, a half breed chief, whose father was a Scotch trader. 
The siege was pressed with vigor six days, and several assaults 
made by the invaders, who were driven back by the artillery, 
loaded with grape and musket balls. The garrison was re- 
lieved by the timely appearance of General G. R. Clark, with 
a reinforcement and a supply of provisions. Shortly after- 
wards, the Governor of Virginia ordered it to be dismantled 
and abandoned. The order being executed, the Chickasaws 
were at peace.* 

This year the crops of wheat, corn, and provisions of all 
kinds were abundant in the West, and the autumn brought 
great numbers of emigrants to Kentucky. 

We have already noticed the sufferings of the Moravians 
on the Muskingum, in 1781. These people were religiously 
opposed to war in every form, and taught their Indian con- 
verts this lesson. Hence the savage Indians despised and 
persecuted them, and were notorious for charging the depre- 
dations committed by themselves, on the " praying Indians," 
as the Moravian converts were called. 

( As earl}' as 1769, the praying Indians upon the Delaware 
Sriver had removed westward, and commenced three settlc- 

•Marihall's Kentucky, i. 112; Butler, 119; Monette, ii. i:*2. 



1781. The Moravian Indians. 259 

ments upon the Muskingum river, which were called Gnaden- 
hutten, SchoBnbrun, and Salem. They were situated in the 
south part of Tuscarawas county. The Missionaries, through 
whose benevolent labors they were converted, v.ere David 
Zeisberger, Michael Jung, Christian Frederic Post, (already 
mentioned, page 105.) and John Heckewelder. Here they 
intended to live in peace, and extend their truly christian 
labors to the tribes of the north-west. 

The converted Indians had adopted civilized habits, were 
able to read, and had cleared and cultivated farms in common 
fields. They had several hundred acres of corn on the rich 
bottom lands of the river — had two hundred cattle, and four 
hundred hogs. These Indians were chiefly Delawares, and 
as a portion of the uncivilized Delaware nation were un- 
friendly to the United States, the frontier people entertained 
strong prejudices against the praying Delawares. 

Many persons thought, or pretended to think, that, although 
these christian Indians had renounced war and theft, they 
gave information to the savage tribes. They treated all 
Indians that passed through their towns with christian hospi- 
tality, and, therefore, were accused of furnisUing supplies to 
war parties. 

Nor did they fare any better from the other side. The 
^Yyandots were mortal enemies to the United States, and at 
war with them, and they accused the Moravian Indians of 
being in communication with the Americans, and even with 
the military of the United States. 

The British officers, at Detroit, in the year 1781, made ap- 
plication to the Six Nations, to have the praying Indians re- 
moved, and the subject was considered in a council at Niaga- 
ra, where the Iroquois, in their figurative language, authorized 
the Ottawas and Ojibeways to kill them. " We herewith 
make you a present of the Christian Indians, to make soup 
of,*' was the form of address ; to which both the Ojibeways 
and Ottawas returned for answer, '• We have no cause for 
doing this." 

The same year, the Wyandots, led by a noted chief, called 
the Half-King, arrived at the Moravian towns, with two hun 
dred warriors, on their way to the settlements in Western Vir- 
ginia, and threatened these peaceable Indians with destruction. 



2G0 Colonel Williamson's Volunteers. 1781. 

The fact has long siace been established beyond all dispute, 
that these praying Indians lived according to their profession 
— that they did all the\- could to prevail on the Ohio Indians 
to live in peace, and that when they knew of any hostile 
parties intending an attack on the settlements, they sent run- 
ners and gave them timely warning. 

Those renegadoes, Girty, McKee and Elliott, who held 
commissions in the British service, did what they could to ex- 
cite hostilities against them. The Half-King and Captain Pipe 
were their enemies. Finally, British officers employed the 
Wyandots to remove them and their teachers from their own 
towns and country, to Sandusky. Their corn was left in the 
field and their cattle in the woods. 

During the following winter, their missionaries were sepa- 
rated from them, and sent as prisoners to Detroit. Not only 
the mis.sionaries, but the people, were treated with great 
severity. The British finally released them, and suffered 
them to return. 

In the autumn of 1781, Colonel David Williamson raised a 
corps of volunteers in Western Pensylvania, and marched to 
th ' Moravian towns, with the design of removing the inhabi- 
tants to Pittsburgh, but he had been anticipated by the Wyan- 
dots and British. 

A few persons were still at the towns, whom he took pri- 
soners, and removed them to Pittsburgh. 

It is supposed that Colonel Williamson thought that the re- 
moval of the praying Indians to Sandusky was proof enough 
of their treachery. During the winter, several persons and 
families were killed along the Ohio river, probably by Wyan- 
dots, and those massacres were laid to the Christian Dela- 
wares. Unfortunatch', about one hundred and lifty, men, 
women, and children, returned to their towns in February, of 
which fact Colonel Williamson learned, and early in March, 
with an irregular force collected from the regions of the Ohio 
and jMonongahela rivers, of about one hundred men, without 
authority from any civil or military power, he made a rapid 
march to the Muskingum, where the party arrived on the 7th 
of March. 

Their professed object was to capture and remove the 
Christian Dclawares, and destroy their houses and fields. A 



1782, Massacre of the Moravian Indians. 261 

number of the people were at work in their corn fields, when 
this hostile force appeared, who ran to the village of Gnaden- 
Imtten. Several men and one woman were killed. They were 
told it was the intention to take them to Pittsburgh, where they 
would be protected, and were directed to enter two houses 
and remain for the night. 

The commander of the party then proposed to leave it to 
his men to decide by vote their fate, and orders were given 
that those who were for sparing their lives should step out in 
front. Of some ninety men present, only seventeen or eigh- 
teen voted to spare their lives ! This sentence was then an- 
nounced to the people. They spent the night in prayer and 
in singing hymns. In the morning the terrible slaughter com- 
menced. No resistance was made. Guns, tomahawks, and 
hatchets were used. Two only escaped ; one, a young man 
about seventeen years of age, wounded, bleeding and scalped, 
crept into the bushes and lived ; another crawled under the 
floor, where he lay until the Ijlood of his murdered relations 
poured in streams upon him. 

The buildings were set on fire, and the bodies partially con- 
sumed. Colonel Williamsom and his men returned to receive 
the execrations of their countrymen. Both the civil and mil- 
itary authorities of the State and nation reprobated the dire- 
ful deed ! 

Forty men, twenty-two women, and thirty-tv\^o children 
were thus destroyed ! 

It would seem, from all the testimony in the case, that Wil- 
liamson was inclined to mercy. Such was his plea in justifi- 
cation of the part he acted, but he was the commander, and 
ought to have known his duty. The only palliation that can 
be offered, is the infatuation under which they labored, that 
these Indians were concerned in the murder of the frontier 
families.* 

It was in March of 1782, that this great murder was com- 
mitted. And as the tiger, having once tasted blood, longs for 
blood, so it was with the frontier-men ; and another expedi- 

"•*For further details the reader is referred to Ilejlje weTJer's Nra-rative, pij. 313-32S 
Brown's History of Missions; History of Missions by Smith and Choules; American Pi-- 
oneer, vol. ii. pp. 425-432; Monete's Valley of the Mis is^ippi, vol. ii. pp. 129-131 • 
Doddriilge, pp 243, 255 ; Withers' Border Warfare, pp. 232-230 ; and varous public 
documents. — [Ed. 



26-2 Crawford Taken. 1782. 

tion was at once organized, to make a dash at the towns of 
the Moravian Delawares and Wyandots, upon the Sandusky. 
No Indian was to be spared; friend or foe, every red man 
' was to die. The commander of the expedition was Colonel 
William Crawford, Washington's old agent in the West. lie 
did not want to go, but found it could not be avoided. The 
troops, numbering nearly five hundred men, marched, in June, 
to the Sandusky uninterrupted. There they found the towns 
deserted, and the savages on the alert. A battle ensued, and 
the whites were forced to retreat. In their retreat, many left 
the main body, and nearly all who did so perished. Of 
Crawford's own fate, we have the following account by Dr. 
Knight, his companion : 

Monday morning, the tenth of June, we were paraded to 
march to Sandusky, about ihirty-three miles distant ; they had 
eleven prisoners of us, and four scalps, the Indians being sev- 
enteen in number. 

Colonel Crawford was very desirous to see a certain Simon 
Girty, who lived with the Indians, and was on this account 
permitted to go to town the same night, with two warriors to 
guard him, having orders at the same time to pass by the 
place where the Colonel had turned out his horse, that they 
might, if possible, find him. The rest of us were taken as 
far as the old town, which was within eight miles of the new. 

Tuesday morning, the eleventh, Colonel Crawford was 
brought out to us on purpose to be marched in with the other 
prisoners, i asked the Colonel if he had seen Mr. Girty ? 
He told me he had, and that Girty had promised to do every 
thing in his power for him, but that the Indians were very 
much enraged against the prisoners; particularly Captain 
Pipe, one of the chiefs ; he likewise told me that Girty had 
infornicd him that his son-in-law, Colonel Harrison, and his 
nephew, William Crawford, were made prisoners by the Shaw- 
ancse, but had been pardoned. This Captain Pipe had come 
from the town about an hour before Colonel Crawford, and 
had painted all the prisoners' faces black. As he was paint- 
ing me he told me 1 should go to the Shawanese towns and 
see my Iriends. When the Colonel arrived, he painted him 
black also, told him he was glad to see him, and that he 
would liavc him shaved when he came to see his friends at 
Ihe Wyandot town. When we marched, the Colonel and I 
were kept back between Pipe and Wyngenim, the two Dela- 
ware chiefs ; the other nine prisoners wpre sent forward with 
another party of Indians. As we went along we saw four 
of the prisoners lying by the path, tomahawked and scalped ; 
some of them were at the distance of half a mile from each 



1782. Crawford's Death. 2G3 

other. When we arrived within half a mile of the place i 
where the Colonel was executed, we overtook the five prison- 
ers that remained alive ; the Indians had caused them to sit 
down on the ground, as they did also the Colonel and me, 
at some distance from them. I was there given in charge to 
an Indian fellow to be taken to the Shawanese towns. 

In the place where we were now made to sit down, there 
was a number of squaws and boys, who fell on the five pris- 
oners and tomahawked them. There was a certain John 
McKinly amongst the prisoners, formerly an officer in the 13th 
Virginia regiment, whose head an old squaw cut ofl^, and the 
Indians kicked it about upon the ground. The young Indian 
fellows came often where the Colonel and I were, and dashed 
the scalps in our faces. We were then conducted along to- 
ward the place where the Colonel was afterwards executed; 
when we came within about half a mile of it, Simon Girty 
met us, with several Indians on horseback ; he spoke to the 
Colonel, but as I was about one hundred and fifty yards be- 
hind, could not hear what passed between them. 

Almost every Indian we met, struck us either with sticks 
or their fists. Girty waited till I was brought up, and asked, 
was that the Doctor? I told him yes, and went towards 
him, reaching out my hand, but he bid me begone, and called 
me a damned rascal, upon which the fellows who had me in 
charge pulled me along. Girty rode up after me and told me 
I was to go to the Shawanese towns. 

When we went to the fire the Colonel was stripped naked, 
ordered to sit down by the fire, and then they beat him with 
sticks and their fists. Presently after I was treated in the 
same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of a post 
about fifteen feet high, bound the Colonel's hands behind his 
back and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists. 
The rope was long enough for him to sit down or walk round 
the post once or twice, and return the same way. The Colo- 
nel then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to burn 
him? Girty answered, yes. The Colonel said he would take 
it all patiently. Upon this. Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, 
made a speech to the Indians, viz : about thirty or forty men 
sixty or seventy squaws and boys. 

When the speech was finished they all yelled a hideous and 
hearty assent to what had been said. The Indian men then' 
took up their guns, and shot powder into the Colonel's body, 
from his feet as far up as his neck. I think that not less than 
seventy loads were discharged upon his naked body. They 
then crowded about him, and to the best of my observation, 
cut off" his ears; when the throng had dispersed a little, I 
saw the blood running from both sides of his head in con- 
sequence thereof. 

The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which 



264 Crawford's Death. 1782. 

the Colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles, 
burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the poles re- 
maining about six feet in length. Three or four Indians by 
turns would take up, individually, one of tliese burning pieces 
of wood and apply it to his naked body, already burnt black 
with the powder. These tormentors presented themselves on 
every side of him with the burning faggots and poles. Some 
of the squaws took broad boards, upon which they wouhJ 
carry a quantity of burning coals and hot embers and throw 
on him, so that in a short time he had nothing but coals of 
fire and hot ashes to walk upon. 

In the midst of these extreme tortures, he called to Simon 
Girty and begged of him to shoot him ; but Girty making no 
answer, he called to him again. Girty, then, by way of de- 
rision, told the Colonel he had no gun, at the same time turn- 
ing about to an Indian who was behind him, laughed heartily, 
and by all his gestures seemed delighted at the horrid scene. 

Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. 
lie said, however, I was not to die at that place, but to be 
burnt at the Shawancse towns. He swore by G — d I need not 
expect to escape death, but should suffer it in all its enormities. 

lie then observed that some prisoners had given him to 
understand, that if our people had him they would not hurt 
him ; for his part, he said, he did not believe it, but desired to 
know ray opinion of the matter, but being at the time in great 
anguish and distress for the torments the Colonel was suffer- 
ing before my eyes, as well as the expectation of undergoing 
the same fate in two days, 1 made little or no answer, lie 
expressed a great deal of ill-will for Colonel Gibson, and said 
he was one of his greatest enemies, and more to the same 
purpose, to all which 1 paid very little attention. 

Colonel Crawford, at tliis period of his suliering, besought 
the Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and 
bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He con- 
tinued in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three 
quarters or two hours longer, as near as I can judge, when at 
last, being almost exhausted, he lay down on his belly ; they 
then .scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, 
telling mc, "that was my great captain.'' An old squaw 
(whose appearance every way answered the ideas people en- 
tertain of the Devil,) got a board, took a parcel ot coals and 
ashes and laid them on his back and head, after he had been 
.scalped: ho then rait^ed himself upon his feet and began to 
walk round the post ; they next put a burning stick to him as 
usual, but he seemed more insensible of pain than before. 

The Indian fellow who had me in charge, now took me 
away to Captain Pipe's house, about three quarters of a mile 
from the place of the Colonel's execution. I was bound all 
night, and thus prevented from seeing the last of the horrid 



1782. Treatment of the Moravians hy the British. 265 

spectacle. Next morning, being June 12tli, the Indian untied 
me, painted me black, and we set oif forthe Shawanese town, 
which he told me was somewhat less than forty miles distant 
from that place. We soon came to the spot where the Colonel 
had been burnt, as it was partly in our way ; I saw his bones 
lying amongst the remains of the fire, almost burnt to ashes ; 
I suppose after he was dead they laid his body on the 
fire. The Indian told me that was my big Captain, and gave 
the scalp halloo. 

In strange, but pleasant contrast to the treatment of the s 
Christian Indians upon the Muskingum, we have to record 
next, the conduct of the Biitish toward their religious leaders 
during this same spring. Girty, who early in the season had 
led a band of Wyandots against the American frontiers, had 
left orders to have Ileckewelder and his comrades driven like 
beasts from Sandusky, where they had wintered, to Detroit ; 
specially enjoining brutality toward them. But his agents, or 
rather those of the English commandant in the West, together 
with the traders who were called upon to aid in their removal, 
distinguished themselves by kindness and consideration, aid- 
ing the missionaries on their march, defending the captives 
from the outrageous brutality of Girty, who overtook them at 
Lower Sandusky, and who swore he would have their lives,; 
and at length re-uniting them to their surviving disciples, at a 
settlement upon the river Huron.* 

It was in March that Williamson's campaign took place, 
and during the same month the Moravians were taken to 
Michigan. It was in that month, also,-j- that an event took 
place in Kentucky, near the present town of Mt. Sterling, in 
Montgomery county, which has been dwelt upon with more 
interest, by her historians, than almost any other of equal un- 
importance ; we refer to Estill's defeat by a party of Wyan- 
dots. The interest of this skirmish arose from the equality of 
numbers on the two sides ; the supposed cowardice of Miller, 
Estill's lieutenant, who was sent to outflank the savages ; and 
the consequent death of the leader, a brave and popular man. 
Its effect upon the settlers was merely to excite a deeper hos- 
tility toward the Indian races. 

» Heckeweldtr's Naxrativc, 308, 329-.349. 

I Marshall (i. 126) says May; we follow Chief Justice Eobertson, quoted hy Butler (124 
note) who says March 22. See also Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, 1. 3. This is a detailed 
account. 

17 



266 Defeat of Colonel Laughery. 1782. 

Nor did the red men, on their part, show any signs of losing 
their animosity. Elliot, McKee and Girty urged them on, 
with a fury that is not easy to account for. 

Again the woods teemed with savages, and no one was 
safe from attack beyond the walls of a station. The influence 
of the British, and the constant pressure of the Long Knives 
upon the red-men, had produced a union of the various tribes 
of the north-west, who seemed to be gathering again to strike 
a fatal blow at the frontier settlements, and had they been led 
' by a Philip, a Pontiac, or a Tecumthe, it is impossible to esti- 
mate the injury they might have inflicted. 

[ It was the same spring, that the calamitous defeat of Col- 
onel Archibald Laughery occurred. This gentleman had been 
requested, by Colonel Clark, to raise one hundred volunteers 
in the county of Westmoreland, Pa., to aid him again.st the 
Ohio Indians. The company was raised principally at his 
own expense, and he also provided the outfit and munitions 
for the expedition. In this he was aided by the late Robert 
Orr, by birth an Irishman, but who manifested a deep and 
generous interest in his adopted country. Mr. Orr was one of 
the oflicers, and next in command under Colonel Laugh- 
ery. 

There were one hundred and seven men in the expedition, 
who proceeded in boats down the Ohio, to meet General 
Clark, at the Falls. At the mouth of a creek in the south- 
eastern part of Indiana, that bears the name of the com- 
mander, the boats were attacked by the Indians. Of the 
whole detachment, not one escaped. Colonel Laughery 
was killed, and most of his oflicers. Captain Orr, who com- 
manded a company, had his arm broken with a ball. The 
wounded, who were unable to travel, were di-spatched with 
the tomahawk, and the few who escaped with their lives, 
were driven through the wilderness to Sandusky. Captain 
Orr was taken to Detroit, where he lay in the hospital for 
several months, and, with the remnant w ho lived, was ex- 
changed, in the spring of 1783. On the 13th of July, while 
Mr. Orr was in captivity, Ilannahstown, in Westmoreland 
county, where his wife and children resided, was attacked and 
burnt by the Indians, and his house and all his property de- 
stroyed. Captain Orr, subsequently, was one of the associate 
Judges of the county, maintained a highly respectable char- 



1782. Attack on Bryanfs Station. 267 

acter, and died in 1833, in the eighty-ninth year of his 
age.* ] 

June and July passed, however, and August was half gone 
and still the anticipated storm had not burst upon the pioneers 
in its full force, when, upon the night of the 14th of the latter 
month, the main body of the Indians, five or six hundred in 
number, gathered, silent as the shadows, round Bryant's sta- 
tion, a post on the bank of the Elkhorn, about five miles from 
Lexington. The garrison of this post had heard, on the even- 
ing of the 14th, of the defeat of a party of whites not far dis- 
tant, and during that night were busy in preparations to 
march, with day-break, to the assistance of their neighbors. 
All night long their preparations continued, and what little 
sound the savages made as they approached, was unheard 
amid the comparative tumult within. Day stole through the 
forest; the woodsmen rose from their brief slumbers, took 
their arms, and were on the point of opening their gates to* 
march, when the crack of rifles, mingled with yells and howls, , 
told them, in an instant, how narrowly they had escaped cap- 
tivity or death. Rushing to the loop-holes and crannies, they 
saw about a hundred red-men, firing and gesticulating in full 
view of the fort. The young bloods, full of rage at Estill's 
sad defeat, wished instantly to rush forth upon the attackers, ' 
but there was something in the manner of the Indians so pe- 
culiar, that the older heads at once suspected a trick, and 
looked anxiously to the opposite side of the fort, where they 
judged the main body of the enemy were probably concealed. 
Nor were they deceived. The savages were led by Simon ) 
Girty. This white savage had proposed, by an attack upon 
one side of the station with a small part of his force, to draw 
out the garrison, and then intended, with the main body, to 
fall upon the other side, and secure the fort ; but his plan was 
defeated by the over-acting of his red allies, and the sagacity 
of his opponents. These opponents, however, had still a sad 
difliculty to encounter; the fort was not supplied with water, 
and the spring was at some distance, and in the immediate 
vicinity of the thicket in which it was supposed the main 
force of the Indians lay concealed. The danger of going or 
sending for water was plain, the absolute necessity of having 

* Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, p. 97 ; — MS. Letters of Robert Orr, Esq., 
of Pittsburgh.— Ed. 



268 Attack on BnjanVs Station. 1782. 

it was equally so ; and how it could be procured, was a ques- 
tion which made many a head shake, many a heart sink. At 
length a plan, equally sagacious and bold, was hit upon, and 
carried into execution by as great an exertion of womanly 
presence of mind as can, perhaps, be found on record. If the 
savages were, as was supposed, concealed near the spring, it 
was believed they would not show themselves until they had 
reason to believe their trick had succeeded, and the garrison 
had left the fort on the other side. It was, therefore, proposed 
to all the females to go with their buckets to the spring, fill 
them, and return to the fort, before any sally was made 
against the attacking party. The danger to which they must 
be exposed was not to be concealed, but it was urged upon 
them that this must be done, or all perish ; and that if they 
were steady, the Indians would not molest them ; and to the 
honor of their sex be it said, they went forth in a body, and 
directly under five hundred rifles, filled their buckets, and re- 
turned in such a manner as not to suggest to the quick-sighted 
savages that their presence in the thicket was suspected. 
This done, a small number of the garrison were sent forth 
against the attackers, with orders to multiply their numbers 
to the ear by constant firing, while the main body of the 
whites took their places to repel the anticipated rush of those 
in concealment. The plan succeeded perfectly. The whole 
body of Indians rushed from their ambuscade as they heard 
the firing upon the opposite side of the fort, and were received 
by a fair, well-directed discharge of all the rifles left within 
the station. Astonished and horror-stricken, the assailants 
turned to the forest again as quickly as they had left it, having 
lost many of their number. 

In the morning, as soon as the presence of the Indians was 
ascertained, and before their numbers were suspected, two 
messengers had broken through their line, bearing to Lexing- 
ton tidings of the seige of Bryant's station, and asking suc- 
cors. These succors came about two in the afternoon ; sixteen 
men being mounted, and thirty or more on foot. The savages 
expected their arrival, and prepared to destroy them, but the 
horsemen, by rapiti riding, and enveloped in dust, reached the 
, fort unharmed, and of the footmen, after an hour's hard fight- 
ing, only two were killed and four wounded. The Indian's 
courage rarely supports him through long-continued exertion ; 



1782. Attack on Bryant's Station.. 269 

and Girty found his men so far disheartened by their failures — 
that of the morning in the attempt to take the fort, and that 
in the afternoon to destroy the troops from Lexington — that 
before night they talked of abandoning the seige. This 
their leader was very unwilling to do : and thinking he 
might scare the garrison into surrender, he managed to get 
within speaking distance, and there, from behind a large 
stump, commenced a parley. He told the white men who he 
was ; assured thera of his great desire that they should not 
suffer; and informing them that he looked hourly for rein- 
forcements with cannon, against which they could not hope 
to hold out, begged them to surrender at once ; if they did so, 
no one should be hurt, but if they waited till the cannon came 
up, he feared they would all fall victims. The garrison look- 
ed at one another with uncertainty and fear ; against cannon 
they could do nothing, and cannon had been used in 1780. 
Seeing ihe effect of Girty's speech, and disbelieving every 
word of it, a young man, named Reynolds, took it upon him- 
self to answer the renegade. " You need not be so particu- 
lar," he cried, '' to tell us your name ; we know your name, 
and you too. I've had a villanous, untrustworthy cur-dog, 
this long while, named Simon Girty, in compliment to you ; 
he's so like you — -just as ugly and just as wicked. As to the 
cannon, let them come on ; the country's roused, and the 
.scalps of your red cut-throats, and your own too, will be dry- 
ing on our cabins in twenty-four hours. And if by any 
chance, you or your allies do get into the fort, we've a big 
store of rods laid in on purpose to scourge you out again." 

The method taken by Reynolds was much more effectual 
than any argument with his comrades would have been, and 
Girty had to return to the Indian council-fire unsuccessful. 
But he and the chiefs well knew that though their reinforce- 
ments and cannon were all imaginary, the expected aid of the 
whites was not. Boone, Todd, and Logan would soon be 
upon them ; the ablest and boldest of the pioneers would cut 
them off from a retreat to the Ohio, and their destruction 
would be insured. On the other hand, if they now began to 
retire, and were pursued, as they surely would be, they could 
choose their own ground, and always fight with their way home 
clear behind them. All night they lay still, their fires burning, 
but when day broke, the whole body of savages was gone. 



270 Bailie of the Blue Licks. 1782. 

By noon of the ISth of August, about one hundred and 
eighty men had gathered at Bryant's station ; among them 
were Boone and his son. After counting the fires, and notic- 
ing other signs, they determined on immediate pursuit, with- 
out waiting for the arrival of Colonel Logan and his party ; 
accordingly, on the 18th, the whole body set forward under the 
command of Colonel John Todd. The trail of the savages 
was as plain as could be Vished ; indeed, to Boone and the 
more reflecting, it was clear that the retiring army had taken 
pains to make it so, and our sagacious woodsmen at once 
concluded that a surprise at some point was intended, and 
that point Boone was confident was the Lower Blue Licks, 
where the nature of the ground eminently favored such a plan. 
With great caution the little army proceeded until, upon the 
following day, they reached the Licking river, at the point de- 
signated by Boone as the one where an attack might be ex- 
pected ; and as they came in sight of the opposite bank, they 
discovered upon its bare ridge a few Indians, who gazed at 
them a moment and then passed into the ravine beyond. The 
hills about the Blue Licks are even now almost wholly with- 
out wood, and the scattered cedars which at present lend 
them some green, did not exist in 1782. As you ascend the 
ridge of the hill above the spring, you at last reach a point 
where two ravines, thickly wooded, run down from the bare 
ground to the right and left, affording a place of conceaJment 
for a very large body of men, who could thence attack on 
front and flank and rear, any who were pursuing the main 
trace along the higher ground : in these ravines, Boone, who 
was looked to by the commanders for counsel, said that the 
Indians were probably hidden. He proposed, therefore, that 
they should send a part of their men to cross the Licking far- 
ther up, and fall upon the Indians in the rear, while the re- 
maining troops attacked them in front. While Boone's plan 
was under discussion by the officers of the pursuing party, 
Major Hugh McGary, according to the common account, 
" broke from the council, and called upon the troops who 
were not cowards to follow him, and thus collecting a band, 
went without order, and against orders, into the action, and 
in consequence of this act a general pursuit of officers and 
men took place, more to save the desperate men that follow- 
ed McGary, than from a hope of a successful fight with the 



1782, Battle of the Blue Licks. 271 

Indians." [The late Col. Benj. Cooper, of Missouri, who was 
in the action, makes this statement. Col, Boone, in a letter 
to the Governor of Virginia, dated August 30th, 1782, gives 
the following particulars.] " We formed our columns into 
one single line, and marched up in their front within about ; 
forty yards before there was a gun fired. Colonel Trigg com- 
manded on the right, myself on the left, Major McGary in the ^ 
centre, and Major Harlan the advance party in the front. 
From the manner in which we had formed, it fell to my lot to 
bring on the attack. This was done with a very heavy fire 
on both sides, and extended back of the line to Col, Trigg, 
where the enemy was so strong that they rushed up and broke 
the right wing at the first fire. Thus the enemy got in our 
rear, and we were compelled to retreat, with the loss of 
seventy-seven of our men and twelve wounded." Nor is the 
impression of this passage altered by the statement of the 
same keen pioneer, as given in his account of his adventures. 
There he says : " The savages observing us, gave way, and 
we, being ignorant of their numbers, passed the river. When 
the enemy saw our proceedings, having greatly the advantage 
of us in situation, they formed the line of battle, from one 
bend of Licking to the other, about a mile from the Blue Licks. 
An exceeding fierce battle immediately began, for about fif- 
teen minutes, when we, being overpowered by numbers, were 
obliged to retreat, with the loss of sixty-seven men, seven of 
whom were taken prisoners." Governor Morehead, however, 
has derived frorn the accounts of eye-witnesses, received 
through R. Wickliffe, some particulars, which, if correct, will 
reconcile most of the common story with Boone's statement, 
and these we give in the words of his address ; leaving our 
readers to judge, first, as to the probability that Boone would 
entirely omit all reference to the conduct of McGary ; and, 
second, as to the likelihood of McGary and his followers paus- 
ing when once under way. It is also to be noticed that Col- 
Cooper, Marshal and Stipp, say nothing of the pause alluded 
to. 

Scarcely had Boone submitted his opinions, when Major 
McGary "raised the war-whoop," and spurring his horse into 
the river, called vehemently upon all who were not cowards 
to follow him, and he would show them the enemy. Presently 
the army was in motion. The greater part suffered them- 
selves to be led by McGary — the remainder, perhaps a third 



272 Battle of the Blue Licks. 1782. 

of the whole number, lingered a while with Todd and Boone 
in council. All at length passed over, and at Boone's sugges- 
tion, the commanding officer ordered another halt. The pio- 
neer then proposed, a second time, that the army should 
remain where it was, until an opportunity was afforded to re- 
connoitre the suspected region. So reasonable a proposal 
was acceded to, and two bold but experienced men were 
selected, to proceed from the Lick along the Buflalo to a point 
half a mile beyond the ravines, where the road branched off 
in different directions. They were instructed to examine the 
country with the utmost care on each side of the road, espe- 
cially the spot where it passed between the ravines, and upon 
the first appearance of the enemy to repair in haste to the 
army. The spies discharged the dangerous and responsible 
task. They crossed over the ridge — proceeded to the place 
designated beyond it, and returned in safety, without having 
made any discovery. No trace of the enemy was to be seen. 
The little army of one hundred and eighty two men now 
marched forward — Colonel Trigg was in command of the 
right wing, Boone of the left, McGary in the centre, and 
Major Harlan with the party in front.* 

[After this disastrous defeat, the sorest calamity that ever 
befel Kentucky, those who escaped, on foot, plunged into the 
thickets, and made their way to Bryant's station, thirty-six 
miles distant, and the nearest place of shelter. 

Colonel Logan, and his party, was met by the fugitives, 
within six miles of the station, to which he returned until the 
most had arrived. Of the one hundred and eighty-two per- 
sons who went out to the battle, about one-third were killed, 
twelve wounded, and seven carried off prisoners, who were 
put to the torture when they reached the Indian towns.] 

In this short, but severe action, Todd, Trigg, Ilarlan, and 
Boone's son, all fell. It was a sad day for Kentucky. The 
feelings and fears of the Fayette county settlers may be 
guessed from the following extract from Boone's letter to Vir- 
ginia : when he felt anxiety, what must they have suffered ! 

By the signs, we thought the Indians had exceeded four 
hundred; while the whole of the militia of this county does 
not amount to more than one hundred and thirty. From these 
facts, your Excellency may form an idea of our situation. I 
know that your own circumstances are critical, but are we to 
be wholly forgotten? I hope not. I trust about five Iiundrcd 
men may be sent to our assistance immediately. If these 
shall be stationed as our county lieutenants shall deem ne- 

* Morehead'g Address, p. 99. 



1782. Treaty of Peace. 273 

cessary, it may be the means of saving our part of the coun- 
try ; but if they are placed under the direction of General 
Clark, they will be of little or no service to our settlement. 
The Falls lie one hundred miles west of us, and the Indians 
north-east; while our men are frequently called to protect 
them. I have encouraged the people in this county all that 
I could, but I can no longer justify them or myself to risk our 
lives here under such extraordinary hazard?. The inhabitants 
of this county are very much alarmed at the thoughts of the 
Indians bringing another campaign into our country this fall. 
If this should be the case, it will break up these settlements. 
I hope, therefore, your Excellency will take the matter into 
your consideration, and send us some relief as quick as possi- 
ble.* 

Clark, of course, soon learned how severe a blow had been 
struck by the northern savages, and determined, as soon as 
possible, again to lead an expedition into the Miami valleys. 
It was the last of September, however, before a thousand men 
could be gathered at the mouth of the Licking, whence they 
marched northward. But their coming, though expeditious 
and secret, was discovered by the natives, and the towns on the 
Miamies and Mad River abandoned to their fate. The crops 
were again destroyed, the towns burned, the British store, 
(Loramie's) with its goods annihilated, and a few prisoners 
taken, but no engagement of any consequence took place.f 
Such, however, appears to have been the impression made 
by Clark upon the Shawanese, that no large body of Indians, 
thenceforward, invaded the territory south of the Ohio, 

In November, after the return of the Kentucky troops, 
Messrs. May and Marshall opened their land offices, and the 
scramble for choice locations began again, and in a way 
which laid the foundation for infinite litigation and heart- 
burning. 

[The defeat of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, and 
the capture of Lord Cornwallis, prepared the way for prelimi- 
naries of peace with Great Britain, and put a check upon 
their Indian allies.] 

Upon the 30th of November, 1782, provisional articles of 
peace had been arranged at Paris, between the Commissioners 
of England and her unconquerable colonies. Upon the 20th 

*See Moreliead's Address, p. 173. 

t Clark's lett.r ia Butler, 2d edition, 536; also in Almon's RemembraBcer, for 178.3, 
part ii. p. 93. 



274 Land Speculation Sti-onger than Law. 1783- 

of the January following, hostilities ceased; on the 19th of 
April — the anniversary of the battle of Lexington — peace 
was proclaimed to the army of the United States, and on the 
3d of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our 
revolutionary struggle was concluded. Of that treaty we 
give so much as relates to the boundaries of the West. 

" The line on the north was to pass along the middle of 
Lake Ontario, to the Niagara river ; thence along the middle 
of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of 
said lake, until it arrives at the water communication between 
that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior, 
northward to the isles Royal and Philipeaux, to the Long 
Lake; thence through the middle of the said Long Lake, and 
the water communication between it and the Lake of the 
Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods ; thence through the 
said lake, to the most north-western point thereof; and, from 
thence, on a due west course, to the river Mississippi ; thence, 
by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river Mis- 
sissippi, until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the 
thirty-first degree of north latitude. South by a line to be 
drawn due east from the determination of the line last men- 
tioned, in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the equa- 
tor, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Chatahouche ; 
thence along the middle thereof, to its junction with the Flint 
river ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's river ; and 
thence, down along the middle of St. Mary's river, to the At- 
lantic Ocean." 

But the cessation of hostilities with England, was not, 
necessarily, the cessation of warfare with the native tribes ; 
and while all hoped that the horrors of the border contests in 
the W^est, were at an end, none competent to judge, failed to 
see the probability of a continued and violent struggle, Vir- 
ginia, at an early period, (in October, 1779,) had, by law, dis- 
couraged all settlements on the part of her citizens, northwest 
of the Ohio ;* but the spirit of land speculation was stronger 
than law, and the prospect of peace gave new energy to that 
spirit ; and how to throw open the immense region beyond the 
mountains, without driving the natives to desperation, was a 
problem which engaged the ablest minds. "Washington, upon 
the 7th of September, 1783, writing to James Duane, in Con- 

* Revised Statutes of Virginia, by B. Watkins Leigh, ii. 378. 



1783. Settlements Restricted. 273 

gress, enlarged upon the difficulties which lay before that body 
in relation to public lands. He pointed out the necessity 
which existed for making the settlements compact ; and pro- 
posed that it should be made even felony to settle or survey 
lands west of a line to be designated by Congress ; which line, 
he added, might extend from the mouth of the Great Miami to 
Mad river, thence to Fort Miami on the Maumee, and thence 
northward so as to include Detroit ; or, perhaps, from the Fort 
down the river to Lake Erie. He noticed the propriety of ex- 
cluding the Indian Agents from all share in the trade with the 
red men, and showed the wisdom of forbidding all purchases 
of land from the Indians, except by the sovereign power,— Con- 
gress, or the State Legislature, as the case might be. — Unless 
some such stringent measures were adopted, he prophecied re- 
newed border wars, which would end only after great expendi- 
ture of money and of life.* But before the Congress of the 
Colonies could take any efficient steps to secure the West, it 
was necessary that those measures of cession which commen- 
ced in 1780-81, should be completed. New York had, condi- 
tionally, given up her claims on the 1st of March, 1781, -f- and 
Congress had accepted her deed, but Virginia, as we have 
said, had required from the United States, a guarantee of the 
territories retained by her, which they were not willing to 
give, and no acceptance of her provision to cede had taken 
place. Under these circumstances. Congress, upon the 18th 
of April, again pressed the necessity of cessions, and, upon 
the 13th of September, six days after Washington's letter 
above referred to, stated the terms upon which they would re- 
ceive the proposals of the Ancient Dominion.^ To these terms 
the Virginians acceded, and, upon the 20th of December, au- 
thorized their delegates to make a deed to the United States 
of all their right in the territory northwest of the river Ohio, — 
Upon condition, that the territory so ceded shall be laid out 
and formed into States, containing a suitable extent of terri- 
tory, not less than one hundred, nor more than one hundred 
and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will 
admit : and that the States so formed shall be distinct repub- 
lican States, and admitted members of the Federal Union, 
having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and indepen- 
dence, as the other States. 

* Sparks' Washington, viii. 477. f Land Laws, 95. % Old Journal^, iv. 189-267. 



276 Terms of Cession hy Virginia. 1778. 

That the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by 
this State in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining 
forts and garrisons within, and for the defence, or in acquiring 
any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be 
fully reimbursed by the U. States; and that one Commissioner 
shall be appointed by Congress, one by this Commonwealth, 
and another by those two Commissioners, who, or a majority 
of them, shall be authorized and empowered to adjust and 
liquidate the account of the necessary and reasonable expen- 
ses incurred by this State, which they shall judge to be com- 
prised within the intent and meaning of the act of Con- 
gress of the tenth of October, one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty, respecting such expenses. That the French and 
Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. 
Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have profe.ssed 
themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions 
and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoy- 
ment of their rights and liberties. That a quantity not ex- 
ceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, promised 
by this State, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colo- 
nel, now General George Rogers Clark, and to the ofilcers and 
soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the 
posts of Kaskaskies, and St. Vincents were reduced, and to 
the officers and soldiers that have since been incorporated into 
the said regiment, to be laid off" in one tract, the length of 
which not to exceed double the breadth, in such place, on the 
northwest side of the Ohio, as a majority of the otficers shall 
choose, and to be afterwards divided among the said officers 
and soldiers in due proportion, according to the laws of Vir- 
ginia. That in case the quantity of good land on the south- 
east side of the Ohio, upon the waters of the Cumberland 
river, and between the Green river and Tennessee river, which 
have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon conti- 
nental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bear- 
ing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, 
prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the deficiency should 
be made up to the said troops, in good lands, to be laid off be- 
tween the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the north-west 
side of the river Ohio, in such proportions as have been enga- 
ged to them by the laws of Virginia. That all the lands with- 
in the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved 
for, or appropriated to, any of the before mentioned purposes, 
or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the 
American army, shall be considered a common fund for the 
use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, 
or shall become, members of the confederation or federal al- 
liance of the .said States, Virginia inclusive, according to their 
usual respective proportions in the general charge and ex- 



1784. Instructions to Indian Commissioners. 277 

penditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for 
that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever.* 

And, in agreement with these conditions, a deed was made 
March 1, 1784. But it was not possible to wait the final ac- 
tion of Virginia, before taking some steps to soothe the In- 
dians, and extinguish their title. On the 22d of September, 
therefore, Congress forbade all purchases of, or settlements on, 
Indian lands,f and on the 15th of October, the Commissioners 
to treat with the natives were instructed, 

1st. To require the delivery of all prisoners : 

2d. To inform the Indians of the boundaries between the 
British possessions and the United States : 

3d. To dwell upon the fact that the red men had not been 
faithful to their agreements : 

4. To negotiate for all the land east of the line proposed 
by Washington, namely, from the mouth of the Great Miami 
to Mad river, thence to Fort Miami on the Maumee, and thence 
down the Maumee to the Lake : 

5th. To hold, if possible, one convention with all the tribes: 

* * # * * * * 

7th. To learn all they could respecting the French of Kas- 
kaskia, &c. 

8th. To confirm no grants by the natives to individuals; 
and, 

9th. To look after American stragglers beyond the Ohio, to 
signify the displeasure of Congress at the invasion of the In- 
dian lands, and to prevent all further intrusions. Upon the 
19th of the following March, the 4th and 5th of these instruc- 
tions were entirely changed, at the suggestion of a committee 
headed by IMr. Jefierson ; the western boundary line being 
made to run due north from the lowest point of the Falls of 
the Ohio, to the northern limits of the United States, and the 
Commissioners being told to treat with the nations at various 
places and different times.J 

Meanwhile steps had been taken by the Americans to ob- 
tain possession of Detroit and the other western posts, bat in 
vain. Upon the 12th of July, Washington had sent Baron 

* See Land Laws, p. 98. 

t Old Journals, iv. 275. 

t Secret Journals, i. 225, 261, 264, 



J78 Efforts to obtain the Western Posts. 1784. 

Steuben to Canada for that purpose, with orders, if he found 
it advisable, to embody the French of Michigan into a militia 
and place the fort at Detroit in their hands. But when the 
Baron presented himself near Quebec, General Haldimand, 
while he received him very politely, refused the necessary 
passports, saying that he had received no orders to deliver up 
the posts along the Lakes. This measure failing, one Cassaty, 
a native of Detroit, was sent thither in August to learn the 
feelings of the people, and to do what he might to make the 
American side popular.* About the same time, Virginia, 
having no longer any occasion for a western army, and being 
sadly pressed for money, withdrew^ her commission from 
George Rogers Clark, with thanks, however, '-for his very 
great and singular services."! 

[This dismission was on the 2d July, 1783, and Benjamin 
Harrison, the Governor of Virginia, wrote to General Clark 
a letter from which we give the following extract. 

"The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of 
the State, with respect to its finances, call on us to adopt the 
most prudent economy. It is for this reason alone, I have 
come to a determination to give over all thoughts for the 
present of carrying on ofTensive war against the Indians, 
which you will easily perceive will render the services of a 
general otficer in that quarter unnecessary, and will, there- 
fore, consider yourself out of command. But, before I take 
leave of you, Tfeel myself called upon, in the most forcible 
manner, to return you my thanks, and those of my Council, 
for the very great and singular services you have rendered 
your country, in wresting so great and valuable a territory 
out of the hands of the British enemy, repelling the attacks 
of their savage allies, and carrying on successful war in the 
heart of their country. This tribute of praise and thanks, so 
justly due, I am happy to communicate to you as the united 
voice of the executive."]^ 

Clark, and his soldiers, in the distribution of lands were 
not forgotten either, and, in October, a tract of one hundred 
and fifty thousand acres of land was granted them north of 
the Ohio, to be located where they pleased ; they chose the 
region opposite the Falls, and the town of Clarksville was 
then founded. § 

» Secret .Tournn's, i, 225. 261, 264. 

t Spuvk^' Washington, viii. 463, 470.— Marshall (i. 175,) gives the letters of Steuben 
and llitUlimnnd. 

t Bul'cr, 21 edition, 400. Dillon's Indiana, i. 195. 

I Revised Statutes of Virginia, by G. W. Leigh, ii. 405. 



1784. Difficulties between Brita'm and the United States. 279 

While these various steps, bearing upon the interest of the 
whole West, were taken by Congress, Washington and the As- 
sembly of Virginia, Kentucky herself was organizing upon a 
new basis — Virginiahaving united the three counties, with their 
separate courts, into one district, having a court of common 
law and chancery for the whole territory that now forms the 
State, and to this district lestored the for-a-time-discarded 
name, Kentucky. The sessions of the court thus organized 
resulted in the foundation of Danville, which in consequence 
for a season became the centre and capital of the District.* 

It might have been reasonably hoped that peace with the 
mother country would have led to comparative prosperity 
within the newly formed nation. But such was not the case. 
Congress had no power to compel the States to fulfil the pro- 
visions of the treaty which had been concluded, and Britain 
was not willing to comply on her side with all its terms, until 
evidence was given by the other party that no infraction of 
tljem was to be feared from the rashness of democratic lead- 
ers. Among the provisions of that treaty were the follow- 
ing :— 

Art. 4. It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet 
with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, 
in sterling money, of all bona fide deb.ts heretofore contracted. 

Art. 5. It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly re- 
commend it to the Legislatures of the respective States, to 
provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and proper- 
ties, which have been confiscated, belonging to real British 
subjects, and also of the estates, rights, and properties of per- 
sons resident in districts in the possession of his Majesty's 
arms, and who have not borne arms against the said United 
States. And that persons of any other description shall have 
free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the thirteen 
United States, and therein to remain twelve months, unmo- 
lested in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of 
their estates, rights and properties, as may have been confis- 
cated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to 
the several States a reconsideration and revision of all acts or 
laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws or 
acts perfectly consistent, not only with justice and equity, but 
with that spirit of conciliation which, on the return of the 
blessings of peace, should universally prevail. And that Con- 
gress shall also earnestly recommend to the several States, 
that the estates, rights and properties, of such last mentioned 

^Marshall, p. 159. 



280 Provisions of Trcaly of Peace. 1784. 

persons, shall be restored to them, they refunding to any per- 
sons who may now be in possession, the bona fide price 
(where any has been given) which such persons may have 
paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights or properties, 
since the confiscation. And it is agreed that all persons who 
have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, niarriage 
settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impedi- 
ment in the prosecution of their just rights. 

Art. 6. That there shall be no future confiscations made, 
nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or per- 
sons for, or by reason of, the part which he or they may have 
taken in the present war; and that no person shall, on that 
account, suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, 
liberty or property ; and that those who may be in confine- 
ment on such charges, at the time of the ratification of the 
treatv in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the 
prosecutions so commenced be discontinued. 

Art. 7. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between 
his Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the 
subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore, 
all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from hencefortjj 
cease : all prisoners, on both sides, shall be set at liberty ; 
and his Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient speed, 
and without causing any destruction, or carrying away 
any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, 
withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said 
United States, and from every post, place, and harbor, within 
the same ; leaving in all fortifications the American artillery 
that may be therein ; and shall also order and cause all 
archives, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any of the 
said States, or their citizens, which in the course of the war, 
may have fallen into the hands of his ofiicers, to be forthwith 
restored and delivered to the proper States and persons to 
whom they belong.* 

That these stipulations were wise and just, none, perhaps 
doubted ; but they opened a door for disputes, through which 
troubles enough swarmed in ; and vre may now, with as 
much propriety as at any time, say the little that our limits 
will allow us to say, in reference to those disagreements be- 
tween England and America, which, for so long a time kept 
alive the hopes and enmities of the Indians, contending, as 
they were, for their native lands and the burial places of their 
fathers. The origin of the ditficulty was an alleged infraction 
of the provisional treaty, signed November 30th, 1782, on the 
part of the British, who showed an intention to take away 

*3cc Land Laws, p. 11. 



1784. Provisions of Treaty of Peace. 281 

with them from New York certain negroes claimed as the 
" propert}^ of the American inhabitants," none of which, by 
the terms both of that and the definitive treaty, was to be re- 
moved. Against this intention, Washington had remonstrat- 
ed, and Congress resolved in vain : in reply to all remon- 
strances, it was said that the slaves were either booty taken 
in war, and as such, by the laws of war, belonged to the cap- 
tors, and could not come within the meaning of the treaty; 
or, were freemen and could not be enslaved.* It was un- 
doubtedly true in regard to many of the negroes, that they 
were taken in war, and as such, (if property at all,) the booty 
of the captors; but it was equally certain that another por- 
tion of them consisted of runaways, and by the terms of the 
treaty, as the Americans all thought, should have been restor- 
ed or paid for. [This case was argued by the Hon. John Jay, 
and its facts and principles clearly set forth. Washington 
thought the British unfair and dishonest in their retention of 
the western posts, and considered the non-payment of their 
debts, by the Americans, as a mere pretext.!] It was 
in x\pril, 1783, that the purposes of England, in relation 
to the negroes, became apparent ; in May, the Commander- 
in-chief and Congress tried, as we have said, ineffectually, 
to bring about a different course of , action. Upon the third 
of September, the definitive treaty was signed at Paris ; on 
the twenty-fifth of November, the British left New York, 
carrying the negroes claimed by the Americans with them ; 
while upon the fourth of the following January, 1784, the 
treaty was ratified by the United States, and on the 9th of 
April by England. Under these circumstances Virginia and 
several other States saw fit to decline compliance with the 
article respecting the recovery of debts; refused to repeal the- 
laws previously existing against British creditors ; and upon, 
the twenty-second of next June, after the ratification of peace 
by both parties, the Old Dominion expressly declined to fulfil 
the treaty in its completeness. This refusal, or neglect, which, 
was equivalent to a refusal, on the part of the States to abide 
strictly by the treaty, caused England, on the other hand, to 
retain possession of the western posts, and threatened to in- 
volve the two countries again in open warfare. 

« Marshall, i, 173. 

t Secret Journals, iv. 275. Sparks' Washington, iv. 163. 179. 

18 



282 Provisions of Treaty of Peace. 1784. 

The dispute, therefore, originated in a difference of opinion 
between the parties as to the meaning of that part of the 
seventh article, which relates to the "carrying away ne- 
groes :" this was followed by a plain infraction of the fourth 
article on the part of the States ; and that by an equally plain 
violation of the provision in regard to evacuating the posts^ 
(article 7) on the side of Great Britain. 

[The posts, or forts, were situated at Oswego, Niagara, 
Presque Isle, (Erie,) Sandusky, Detroit, Michillimackinac, and 
Prairie du Chein.] 

In March, 1785, John Adams was sent to England to " re- 
quire" the withdrawal of his Majesty's armies from the posts 
still held by them. This requisition he made on the 8th of 
the following December ; and was told in reply that when the 
fourth article was respected by the States, the seventh would 
be by England. These facts having been laid before Con- 
gress, that body, in March, 1787, pressed upon the States the 
necessity of repealing all laws violating the treaty ; but Vir- 
ginia, in substance, refused to comply with the requisition re- 
specting British creditors, until the western forts were evac- 
uated, and the slaves that had been taken, returned or paid 
for.* 

From what has been said, it will be easily surmised that, to 
the request of Governor Clinton of New York, relative to the 
abandonment of the posts within that state, as well as to the 
demand of Congress in the following July, for the possession 
of all the strongholds along the lakes, General Haldimand 
replied, as he had done to Baron Steuben, " 1 have received 
no orders from his Majesty to deliver them up."t 

While the condition of the western frontier remained thus 
uncertain, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland 
forts. In the spring of this year, Pittsburgh, which had been 
long settled, and once before surveyed, was regularly laid out 
under the direction of Tench Francis, agent for the Messrs. 
Penn, who, as adherents to England in the revolutionary 
struggle, had forfeited a large part of their possessions in 
America. The lots were soon sold, and improvements im- 
mediately began; though, as would appear from the follow- 
ing extract from Arthur Lee's Journal, who passed through 

♦ Secret Journals, iv. 185 to 2S7.— Pitkin, ii. 192 to 200.— Marshall, i. 107 to 1S8. 
"t" Marshall, i. 177, ic. 



1784. Settlements in Kentucky. 283 

Pittsburgh on his way to the Indian council at Fort Mcintosh, 
it was not, late in its first year, very prepossessing or promis- 
ing in its appearance : 

" Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, 
who live in paltry log-houses, and are as dirty as if in the 
north of Ireland, or even Scotland. There is a great deal of 
trade carried on ; the goods being brought, at the vast expense 
of forty-five shillings per hundred, from Philadelphia and Bal- 
timore. They take, in the shops, money, wheat, flour and 
skins. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and 
not a priest of any persuasion, nor church, nor chapel. The 
rivers encroach fast on the town ; and to such a degree, that, 
as a gentleman told me, the Allegheny had, within thirty 
years of his memory, carried away one hundred yards. The 
place, I believe, will never be very considerable."* 

The detention of the western fortresses, however, though 
of little moment to Pennsylvania, was a very serious evil to 
the more distant settlers of Kentucky. The northern savages 
again prepared their scalping knives, and the traders from 
Canada, if not the agents ef the British government, urged 
them to harrass the frontiers. 

[During this year of comparative peace and quiet, new set- 
tlements were made in Kentucky, and a large increase added 
to the population. Simon Kenton returned to the improve- 
ment he made in 1775, where Washington now stands in Ma- 
son county, which soon became the nucleus of an extensive 
settlement. Here a block house was erected. 

At the Lower Blue Licks, the Messrs. Tanner had a small 
settlement the preceding year. Limestone (now Maysville) 
became the place of landing for immigrants, and the route by 
the Blue Licks to Bryant's station and Lexington a thorough- 
fare. An immense accession to the population was made by 
immigration in autumn, and consequently settlements were 
much extended the ensuing winter and spring.f 

The population of all the settlements up to 1783, exceeded 
twelve thousand persons, and this number was augmented by 
the arrivals of the succeeding summer, to more than twenty 
thousand. 

♦American Pioneer, i. 30i. 
tMarshall,i. 188, 195. 



284 Virginia Military Lands Surveyed. 1784. 

Merchandize, from Philadelphia, was transported in wag- 
ons across the mountains to Pittsburgh, and from thence, on 
keel-boats and flats, floated down the Ohio to Limestone and 
Louisville. A dry goods store was opened at Louisville, by 
Daniel Brodhead, and the next year, another store was 
opened, in Lexington, by Colonel James Wilkinson. In 1784, 
Louisville contained sixty-three houses, finished; thirty-seven 
partly finished ; twenty-two, raised, but not covered ; and 
more than one hundred log cabins.* 

In the autumn of 1781, Colonel Benjamin Logan, appre- 
hending the Cherokees meditated an invasion of Kentucky, 
made a call for a convention of the citizens at Danville, to 
take measures for the defence of the country.] 

At this meeting the whole subject of the position and dan- 
ger of Kentucky was examined and discussed, and it was 
agreed that a convention should meet in December, to adopt 
some measures for the security of the settlements in the wil- 
derness. Upon the 27th of that month it met, nor was it long 
before the idea became prominent that Kentucky must ask to 
be severed from Virginia, and leftj to her own guidance and 
control. But as no such conception was general, when the 
delegates to this first convention were chosen, they deemed it 
best to appoint a second, to meet during the next May, at 
which was specially to be considered the topic most inter- 
esting to those who were called on to think and vote — a 
complete separation from the parent state — political indepen- 
dence.f 

It was during 1784, also, that the military claimants of 
land, under the laws of A^irginia, began their locations. All 
the territory between the Green and Cumberland rivers, ex- 
cepting that granted to Henderson & Co., was to be appro- 
priated to soldiers of the parent state ; and when that was 
exhausted, the lands north of the Ohio, between the Scioto 
and Little Miami rivers. In 1783, the Continental Line had 
chosen Colonel Richard C. Anderson principal surveyor on 
their behalf, and on the 17th of December in that year, con- 
cluded with him a contract, under which, upon the 20th of 
the following July, he opened his oflicc near Louisville; and 

*MoncUe, ii, 143. Letters of an AmericaD Plan»er, from 1770 to 17SG, vol. iii. p- 422. 
Marshall, i. 161. 

t Marshall, i. 190 to 195. 



1784. Virginia Land Claims Surveyed. 285 

entries at once began. The first entry north of the Ohio, 
however, was not made until x\ugust 1, 1787.* 

Two subjects, which in order of time belong to this year, 
we defer, the one to 1787, the other to 1785 ; the former is the 
measure adopted by Congress for the government of the new 
territory ; the latter, the first treaty with the Indians relative 
to the West. 

* McDonald's Sketches, 22 to 24. He gives the contract. Also letter of W. M. Ander- 
c<in. (American Pioneer, i. 438.) The number of soldiers in the Virginia Continental 
Line preyed to be 1124. (American State Papers, xriii. 535.) 



CHAPTER X. 

WESTERN PROGRESS. 

Cession of tho North-western Territory by Virginia — Treaties with the Indians — Procla- 
mation of Congress against settlers on Indian Lands — Ordinance for Surveying the 
Public Lands — Convention in Kentucky — Negotiation with the Shawanese— Council at 
the Mouth of the Great Miami — Negotiations with Spain — Groat Dissatisfaction in 
the West — Company formed to settle Ohio. 

[One of the most important events to the North-western 
States that occurred in 1784, was the cession by Virginia to 
the United States, of all claims to the country to the northwest 
of the Ohio river. The names of the Commissioners, and an 
outline of the conditions of the cession, we copy from Dillon's 
" Historical Notes" on Indiana, volume first, page 197. 

On the first day of March, 1784, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel 
Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James JMonroe, delegates in Congress 
on the part of Virginia, executed a deed of cession, by which 
they transferred to the United States, on certain conditions, 
all right, title, and claim of Virginia to the country northwest 
of the river Ohio. The deed of cession contained the follow- 
ing conditions, viz : " That the territory so ceded shall be laid 
out and formed into states, containing a suitable extent of ter- 
ritory, not less than one hundred, nor more than one hundred 
and fifty miles square ; or as near thereto as circumstances 
will admit : and that the states so formed shall be distinct 
republican states, and admitted members of the federal union ; 
having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and indepen- 
dence, as the other states. That the necessary and reasona- 
ble expenses incurred by Virginia, in subduing any British 
posts, or in maintaining forts and garrisons within, and for the 
defence, or in acquiring any part of, the territory so ceded or 
relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States. 
That the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers 
of the Kaskaskias, Post Vincennes, and the neighboring villa- 
ges, who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall 
have their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be 
protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties. That 
a quantity not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres 
of land, promised by Virginia, shall be allowed and granted 
to the then Colonel, now General George Rogers Clark, and 
to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with 
him when the posts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were reduc- 
ed, and to the officers and soldiers that have been since 



1784. Cession of Virginia. 287 

incorporated in the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, 
the length of which not to exceed double the breadth, in such 
place on the northwest side of the Ohio, as a majority of the 
officers shall choose, and to be afterwards divided among the 
officers and soldiers in due proportion, according to the laws 
of Virginia. That in case the quantity of good lands on the 
southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of Cumberland 
river, and between the Green river and Tennessee river, 
which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon 
continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line 
bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was ex- 
pected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the defi- 
ciency shall be made up to the said troops, in good lands to be 
laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the 
northwest side of the river Ohio, in such proportions as have 
been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia. That all the 
lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, 
and not reserved for, or appropriated to any of the before- 
mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers 
and soldiers of the American army, shall be considered as a 
common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United 
States as have become, or shall become, members of the con- 
federation or federal alliance of the said states, Virginia in- 
clusive, according to their usual respective proportion in the 
general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and 
bona fide disposed offer that purpose, and for no other use or 
purpose whatsoever."] 

In speaking of Pittsburgh, we referred to the passage of 
Arthur Lee through that place late in 1784, to attend a council 
with the Indians at Fort Mcintosh. Upon the 22d of the pre- 
vious October, this gentleman, in connection with Richard 
Butler and Oliver Wolcott, had met the hostile tribes of the 
Iroquois,* at Fort Stanwix, and had there concluded a treaty 
of peace, among the articles of which was the follovi^ing : 

Art. 3. A line shall be drawn, beginning at the mouth of a 
creek, about four miles east of Niagara, called Oyonwayea, 
or Johnson's Landing Place, upon the lake, named by the In- 
dians Oswego, and by us Ontario ; from thence southerly, in 
a direction always four miles east of the carrying path, be- 
tween Lake Erie and Ontario, to the mouth of Tehoseroron, 
or Buffalo Creek, or Lake Erie ; thence south, to the north 
boundary of the State of Pennsylvania ; thence west, to the 
end of the said north boundary ; thence south, along the west 
boundary of the said State, to the river Ohio ; the said line, 
trom the mouth of the Oyonwayea to the Ohio, shall be 
the western boundary of the lands of the Six Nations ; so that 

* See Land Laws, p. 132. 



288 Provisions of the Treaty of Fort Mcintosh. 1785. 

the Six Nations shall, and do, yield to the United States, all 
claims to the country west of the said boundary; and then 
they shall be secured in the peaceful possession ot the lands 
they inhabit, east and north of the same, reserving only six 
miles square, round the Fort of Oswego, to the United States, 
for the support of the same. 

[The "hostile tribes" referred to were the Mohawks, Onon- 
dagas, Cayugas, and Senacas, who had joined the British ; 
while the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were on the American 
side.] 

The old indefinite claim of the great northern confederacy 
to the West, being thus extinguished, Mr. Lee, together with 
Richard Butler and George Rogers Clark, proceeded to treat 
with the Western Indians themselves at Fort Mcintosh, upon 
the 21st of January, 1785. The nations represented were the 
Wyandots, Delawares, Chippeways, and Ottowas ; and among 
the representatives, it is said, was the celebrated war chief of 
the Delawares, Buckongahelas : the most important provi- 
sions of the treaty agreed upon, were the seven following: — 

Art. 3. The boundary line between the United States jind 
the Wyandot and Delaware nations, shall begin at the mouth 
of the river Cayahoga, and run thence, up the said river, to the 
portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Mus- 
kingum ; then, down the said branch, to the forks at the cross- 
ing place above Fort J^awrence, [Laurens;] then westwardly, 
to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at 
the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by 
the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two ; then, 
along the said portage, to the Great INIiami or Ome river, and 
down the south-east side of the same to its mouth ; thence, 
along the south shore of Lake Erie, to the mouth of the Cay- 
ahoga, where it began. 

Art. 4. The United States allot all the lands contained 
within the said lines to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, 
to live and to hunt on, and to sucli of the Ottowa nation as 
now live thereon ; saving and reserving, for the establishment 
of trading posts, six miles square at the mouth of Miami or 
Ome river, and the same at the portage on that branch of the 
Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the 
Lake of Sandusky, where the fort formerly stood, and also 
two miles square on each side of the lower rapids of Sandusky 
river; which posts, and the lands annexed to them, shall be to 
the use, and under the government of the United States. 

Art. 5. If any citizen of the United States, or other person, 
not being an Indian, shall attempt to settle on any of the 



1785. Settlements Prohibited North of the Ohio. 289 

lands allotted to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, in this 
treaty, except on the lands reserved to the United States in 
the preceding article, such person shall forfeit the protection 
of the United States, and the Indians may punish him as they 
please. 

Art. 6. The Indians who sign this treaty, as well in behalf 
of all their tribes as of themselves, do acknowledge the lands 
east, south and west, of the lines described in the third article, 
so far as the said Indians formerly claimed the same, to belong 
to the United States; and none of their tribes shall presume 
to settle upon the same, or any part of it. 

Art. 7. The post of Detroit, with a district beginning at 
the mouth of the river Rosine, on the west side of Lake Erie, 
and running west six miles up the southern bank of the said 
river, thence, northerly, and always six miles west of the strait, 
till it strikes the Lake St. Clair, shall also be reserved to the 
sole use of the United States. 

Art. 8. In the same manner, the post of Michillimackinac, 
with its dependencies, and twelve miles square about the 
same, shall be reserved to the use of the United States. 

Art. 9. If any Indian or Indians shall commit a robbery or 
murder on any citizen of the United States, the tribe to which 
such offender may belong, shall be bound to deliver them up 
at the nearest post, to be punished according to the ordinances 
of the United States. 

[To prevent intrusion on the Indian lands, and consequently 
collision with the aborigines, the Continental Congress, on the 
15th of June, 1785, sent forth the following ^proclamation, 
whieh was circulated in the Western country. 

"Whereas, it has been represented to the United State*, in 
Congress assembled, that several disorderly persons have cross- 
ed the Ohio and settled upon their unappropriated lands; and, 
whereas, it is their intention, as soon as it shall be surveyed, 
to open offices for the sale of a considerable part thereof, in 
such proportions and under such other regulations as may suit 
the convenience of all the citizens of the said States and others 
who may wish to become purchasers of the same : — and as 
such conduct tends to defeat the object they have in view ; is 
in direct opposition to the ordinances and resolutions of Con- 
gress, and highly disrespectful to the federal authority ; they 
have, therefore, thought fit, and do hereby issue this, their 
proclamation, strictly forbidding all such unwarrantable intru- 
sions, and enjoining all those who have settled thereon to de- 
part with their families and effects, without loss of time, as 
they shall answer the same at their peril.*] 

* Dillon's Indiana, i. 199. 



290 Ordinance Relative to Western Lands. 1785. 

Thus were the first steps taken for securing to the United 
States the Indian titles to the vast realm beyond the Ohio ; 
and a few months later the legislation was commenced that 
was to determine the mode of its disposal, and the plan of its 
settlements. 

In April of the previous year Congress had adopted certain 
resolutions in relation to the number and size of the States to 
be formed from the Western Territory, and sketched the great 
features of an Ordinance for its organization, but as all these 
things were afterwards modified in 1787, we have deferred 
the subject of that organization to the last named year. But 
though the details of the government of the West were not 
as yet settled, Congress, upon the 20th of May, 1785,* passed 
an ordinance relative to surveys, which determined a plan for 
the division of the ceded lands, and the main principles of 
which still remain in force. This was not done, however, un- 
til Massachusett?, as well as New York and Virginia, had 
ceded her claims to the Union ; which she did upon the 19lh 
of April in this year, the Act authorizing the cession having 
been passed upon the l3th of the previous November. f 

By the ordinance above referred to, the territory purchased 
of the Indians was to be divided into townships, six miles 
square,! ^V north and south lines, crossed at right angles by 
others: the first north and south line to begin on the Ohio, at 
a point due north of the western termination of the southern 
boundary of Penn.sylvania, and the first ea.st and west line to 
begin at the same point, and extend throughout the territory. 
The ranges of townships thus formed were to be numbered 
from the Pennsylvania line westward ; the town.ships them- 
selves from the Ohio northward. Each town.ship was to be 
subdivided into thirty-six parts or sections, e.ach, of course, 
one mile square. When seven ranges of townships had been 
thus surveyed, the Geographer was to make a return of them 
to the Board of Treasury, who were to take therefrom one- 
seventh part, by lot, for the use of the late Continental army ; 
and so of every seven ranges as surveyed and returned: the 

*Thcro was an ordinance reported May 28, 1784, (Old Journals, iv. 41G;) a second, 
April 2Gth, 1785, (Old Journals, iv. 507;) tbat of May 20th difl'ered in several respects. 

1 0:d Journals, iv. 600 to 504. Lands Laws, 102. 

X % the first ordinance these were to have been ten mile?, and by the Eecond seven miles 
square. — See Journals. 



1785. Ordinance Relative to Western Lands. 291 

remaining six-sevenths were to be drawn for by the several 
States, in the proportion of the last rc([uisition made on them ; 
and they were to make publie sale thereof in the following 
manner: range 1st, township 1st, was to be sold entire, town- 
ship 2d in sections, and so on alternately; while in range 2d, 
township 1st was to be sold in sections, and township 2d en- 
tire, retaining throughout, both as to the ranges and town- 
ships, the principle of alternation. The price was to be at 
least one dollar per acre in specie, " loan oflice certificates re- 
duced to specie value," or "certificates of liquidated debts of 
the United States." Five sections in each township were to 
be reserved, four for the United States, and one for schools. 
All sales thus made by the States were to be returned to the 
Board of Treasury. This ordinance also gave the mode 
for dividing, among the continental soldiers, the lands set 
apart to them ; reserved three townships for Canadian refu- 
gees ; secured to the Moravian Indians their rights ; and ex- 
cluded from sale the tenitory between the Little Miami and 
Scioto, in accordance with the provisions made by Virginia, 
in her deed of cession, in favor of her own troops. Many 
points in this law were afterwards changed, but its great 
features remained.* 

It had been anticipated, that so soon as the treaty of Fort 
Mcintosh was known, settlers and speculators would cross the 
Ohio, and to prevent the evil which it was foreseen would 
follow any general movement of the kind, the Indian Com- 
missioners were authorized in June, to issue a Proclamation 
commanding all persons northwest of the river to leave with- 
out loss of time, or stay at tlieir peril, announcing the inten- 
tion of government as soon as possible to sell the soil as fast 
as surveyed. f The peril to be apprehended from the weak 
hands of the confederacy might not have deterred fearless 
men from filling the forbidden land, but there were those near 
by who executed the laws they made in a manner which was 
by no means to be disregarded ; and, as we learn from the 
Honorable George Corwin, of Portsmouth, when four families 
from Redstone attempted a settlement at the mouth of the 
Scioto, in April, 1785, they received such a notice to quit, from 
the natives, in the shape of rifle-balls, that the survivors (for 

* Land Laws, .'549 to .354.— Old .lournal?, iv. 520 to 522. 
•f Land Laws, .354. — Old Journals, iv. 533. 



292 Third Convention in Kentucky. 1785. 

two men were killed) were glad enough to abandon their en- 
terprize, and take refuge at Limestone or Maybville.* Fur- 
ther West the experiment succeeded better, and some years 
before the time of which we are writing, in 1781, a settlement 
was made in the neighborhood of the old French forts, by 
emigrants from Western Virginia, who were joined during the 
present year by several other families from the same region. 

[A sketch of the early American settlements in Illinois will 
be found among the Annals of that State; in the Appendix.] 

In Kentucky during 1785, events were of a different charac- 
ter from any yet witnessed in the West. Hitherto, to live and 
resist the savages had been the problem, but now the more 
complicated questions of self-rule and political power pre- 
sented themselves for discussion and answer. The Conven- 
tion which met late in 1784, finding a strong feeling prevalent 
in f\ivor of separation from A^irginia, and unwilling to assume 
too much responsibility, had proposed, as we have stated, a 
second Convention to meet in the following May. It met upon 
the 23rd of that month, and the same spirit of self dependence 
being dominant, an address to the Assembly of Virginia and 
one to the people of Kentuck}^, together with five resolutions, 
all relative to separation, and in favor of it, were an- 
imously carried. Two of these resolutions deserve especial 
notice ; one of them recognized, what the Constitution of 
Virginia did not, the principle of equal representation, or a 
representation of the people living in a certain territory, and not 
the square miles contained in it : the other referred the whole 
matter again, to a thi)d Convention, which was to meet in 
August, and continue its sessions by adjournment until April, 
1786. As the members of the body which passed this resolve 
had been chosen, it is believed, on the basis of equal re- 
presentation, and for the very purpose of considering the 
question of independence, it is by no means clear why this re- 
ference to a third assembly was made. It may have been 
from great precaution, or it may have been through the 
influence of James Wilkinson, who, though not a member of 
the second Convention, exercised great power in it; and who 
being chosen a member of the third, became its leader and 
controller, by the combined influence of his manners, elo- 
quence, intellect, and character. This gentleman, there ap- 

* American Pioneer, i. 56. 



1785. Third Convention in Kentucky. 293 

pears to be reason to think, deemed the tone of the petition to 
Virginia too humble, and wished another meeting, to speak 
both to the Parent State and the people of the District in more 
rousing and exciting words. And his wish, if such was his 
wish, was fulfilled. Upon the 8th of August, a third Conven- 
tion met, adopted a new form of address to the Old Dominion, 
and called upon the people of Kentucky to " arm, associate, 
and embody," " to hold in detestation and abhorrence, and 
treat as enemies to the community, every person who shall 
withhold his countenance and support, of ^uch measures as 
may be recommended for [the] common defence ;" and to 
prepare for offensive movements against the Indians, without 
waiting to be attacked.* 

That Wilkinson, in this address to the people of Kentucky, 
somewhat exaggerated the danger of Indian invasion is pro- 
bable ; and the propriet}^ of his call upon his countrymen to 
invade the lands beyond the Ohio, at the time that Congress 
was treating with the natives owning them, and seeking to 
put a stop to warfare, is more than questionable : but still his 
expressions of anxiety lest the whites should be found unpre- 
pared, were not wholly without cause. 

[At this period hostile feelings and movements were again 
manifested, as appears from the following extract from Dil- 
lon's " Historical Notes." 

" A large Indian council, composed of deputies from dif- 
ferent tribes, was held at Ouiatenon, on the river Wabash, in 
the month of August, 1785. About the same time an Indian 
killed one of the French inhabitants of Post Vincennes. A 
party of the friends of this man then fell upon the Indians, 
killed four and wounded some more. Soon afterwards an 
Indian chief w^aited on the French inhabitants, and told them 
that they must remove at a fixed time — that the Indians were 
determined to make w^ar on the American settlers — and that 
if the French remained at Post Vincennes, they would share 
the fate of the Americans."! 

In October the Southern Indians became hostile, made in- 
cursions into Kentucky, attacked the family of Mr. McClure, 
massacred three children, and took his wife and one child 
prisoners. They w^ere rescued by a party under the command 

* Marshall, i. 195, 196 to 220; where all the original papers at length, 
t Correspondence of Captain John Armitrong, in Dillon's Indiana, i. 201. 



294 Virginia offers Kentucky Terms. 1786. 

of Captain William Whitley. Other families and stations 
were attacked.*] 

But the proper source of action in the matter at this time 
was the confederation, and Wilkinson and his associates in 
proposing to invade the north-west territory, should have 
sought to act under its sanction, and not as leaders of a 
sovereign power. Nor was the confederation at this very 
time unmindful of the ^West; in the autumn of '85, Major 
Doughty descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Muskingum, 
and upon the point north of the former, and west of the lat- 
ter river, began Fort Harmar.f 

The address or petition, though the last name seems scarcely 
applicable, which the Third Kentucky Convention had sent to 
the Assembly of the the parent State, was by that body duly 
received and listened to, and the reasons for an early separation 
appearing cogent, Virginia, in January, 1786, passed a law by 
which Kentucky might claim independence, provided she 
were willing to accept of the following conditions, as ex- 
plained in a letter from iNIr. Madison, to Gen. Washington, 
dated December 9th, 17854 

" Kentucky made a formal application for independence. 
Her memorial has been considered, and the terms of separation 
fixed by a Committee of the Whole. The substance of them 
is that all private rights and interests, derived from the laws 
of Virginia, shall be secured ; that the unlocatrd lands shall 
be applied to the objects to which the laws of A'irginia have 
appropriated them ; that the Ohio shall be a common high- 
way for the citizens of the United States, and the jurisdiction 
of Kentucky and Virginia, as far as the remaining territory of 
the latter will be thereon, be concurrent only with the new 
States on the opposite shore ; that the }»roposed State shall 
take its due share of our State debts ; and that the separation 
shall not take place unless these terms shall be approved by a 
convention to be held to decide the question, nor^until Congress 
sliall assent thereto, and {\\ the terms of their admission into 
the Union. The limits ot the proposed State are to be the 
same with the present limits of the district. The apparent 
coolness of the representatives of Kentucky, as to a separa- 
tion, since these terms have been defined, indicates that they 
had some views, which will not be favored by them. They 
dislike much to be hung upon the will of Congress." 

*Mar>hill, i. 221 

fAineriouu Pioneer, i. 25-30 and frontispiece. Monctte^ ii. 222. 

{Sparks' Washington, ix. 610. 



1786. Convention iviih Western Tribes Proposed. 295 

These conditions were to be submitted to a Fourth conven- 
tion to be held in the following September. If those were 
agreed to, the convention was to select a day posterior to Sep- 
tember 1st, 1787, after which the laws of Virginia were to 
cease forever to be force within the western district ; for 
which, meanwhile, a constitution and laws were to be pre- 
pared by a Fifth convention to be called for that purpose : it 
being provided, that this act was to be effective only when in 
substance approved by the United States.* This act was not, 
however, altogether pleasant to the more zealous of the advo- 
cates of self-rule, and an attempt was made by Wilkinson 
and his friends to induce the people of the district to declare 
themselves independent of Virginia before the comparatively 
distant period fixed by the law in question. The attempt, 
however, was opposed and defeated ; the election of members 
for the Fourth convention took place without disturbance, 
and in September it would undoubtedly have met to attend to 
the business confided to it, had not the Indian incursions led 
to a movement against the tribes on the Wabash, at the very 
time appointed for the assembly at Danville. 

Before we come to this' movement be^^ond the Ohio, howev- 
er, it is necessary to mention the steps taken by Congress du- 
ring the early part of this year to secure and perpetuate peace 
with the north-western tribes. The treaty of Fort Stanwix 
with the Iroquois, was upon the 22d of October, 1784; that 
of Fort Mcintosh, with the Delawares, Wyandots, &:c., upon 
the 21st of January, 1785; upon the 18th of March following, 
it was resolved that a treaty be held with the Vv'abash Indi- 
ans at Post Vincent on the 20th of June, 1785, or at such other 
time and place as might seem best to the commissioners.f 
Various circumstances caused the time to be changed to the 
31st of January, 1786, and the place to the mouth of the 
Great Miami, where, upon that day a treaty was made by G. 
R. Clark, Richard Butler and Sam'l. H. Parsons, not, however 
with the Piankishaws and others named in the original reso- 
lution, but with the Delawares, Wyandots and Shawanese.t 

^Marshall, i. 222. 

tOld Journals, iv. 487. 

JThose first named were the Potawatama, Twigtwees, Piankashaw and other west- 
ern nations. See Old Journals, iv. 628, 633, 538, 542. The resolution on the pa^e 
last cited ( June 29, 1785, ) changes the place to the mouth of the Great Miami or 
the Falls. 



( 



296 Letter of General Parsons. 1786. 

That treaty, in addition to the usual articles, contained 
the following.* 

Art. 2. The Shawanee nation do acknowledge the United 
States to be the sole and absolute sovereigns of all the terri- 
tory ceded to them by a treaty of peace made between them 
and the king of Great Britain, the fourteenth day of January, 
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four. 

Art. 6. The United States do allpttothe Shawanee nation, 
lands within their territory, to live and hunt upon, beginning 
at the south line of the lands allotted to the Wyandots and 
Delaware nations, at the ])lace where the main branch of the 
Great Miami, which falls into the Ohio, intersects said line ; 
then, down the River Miami, to the fork of that river, nrxt be- 
low the old fort which was taken by the French in one thous- 
and seven hundred and fifty-two ; thence, due west, to the 
River De La Panse ; then, down that river, to the river Wa- 
bash; beyond which lines none of the citizens of the United 
States shall settle, nor disturb the Shawanees in their settle- 
ment and possessions. And the Shawanees do relinquish to 
the United States, all title, or pretence of title, they ever had 
to the lands east, west, and south of the east, west, and south 
lines before described. f 

The absence of the Wabash Indians from this council was 
not the result of any change of plans on the part of the Ameri- 
cans, but solely of a growing spirit of hostility among the sav- 
ages, fostered, there is too much reason to think, by the sub- 
agents of England. The temper of the Indians who first met 
the commissioners, is thus referred to by General Parsons, in 
a letter to Captain Hart, at Fort Harmar, dated " Fort Fin- 
ney." 

[Major Finney was a witness to the treaty. " Fort Finney" 
was at the mouth of the Great Miami. ]J 

Since we have been here, every measure has been taken to 
bring in the Indians. The Wyandots and Delawares are here ; 
the other nations were coming, and were turned back by the 
Shawancse. These, at last, sent two of their tribe to exam- 
ine our situation and satisfy themselves of our designs. With 
these men we were very open and explicit. We told them 
we were fully convinced of their designs in coming; that we 
were fully satisfied with it; that they were at libert}' to take 
their own way and time to answer the purposes they came 

-Old .Journal?, iv. G27. liand Laws, 299. 

t See Land Laws, 299. 

J cut's Cincinnati Miscellany, ii. 33. 



1786. Clark's Treatment of the Indians. 297 

for ; that we were desirous of living in peace with them ; and 
for that purpose had come with offers of peace to them, which 
they would judge of, and whether peace or war was most for 
their interest; that we very well knew the measures the Brit- 
ish agents had taken to deceive them. That if they came to 
the treaty, any man who had filled their ears with those stories 
was at liberty to come with them, and return in safety. But 
if they refused to treat with us, we should consider it as a 
declaration of war on their part, &c. These men stayed 
about us eight days, and then told us they were fully con- 
vinced our designs were good ; that they had been deceived; 
that they would return home, and use their influence to bring 
in their nation, and send out to the other nations. Last night 
we received a belt of Wampum and a twist of tobacco, with 
a message that they would be in when we had smoked the 
tobacco. From our information, we are led to believe these 
people will very generally come in, and heartily concur with 
us in peace. I think it not probable the treaty will begin 
sooner than January. 

The British agents, our own traders, and the inhabitants of 
Kentuclry, 1 am convinced, are all opposed to a treaty, and 
are using every measure to prevent it. Strange as this may 
seem, I have very convincing proofs of its reality. The causes 
I can assign, but they are too man}^ for the compass of a let- 
ter. Notwithstanding all treaties we can make, I am con- 
vinced we shall not be in safety until we have posts estab- 
lished in the upper country.* 

The various tribes of the north-west, therefore, had been 
invited to the mouth of the Miami, but, owing to counter in- 
flluence, neither attended, nor took any notice of the messages 
sent them ;f and those who did finally attend, came, if tradi- 
tion tells truly, in no amicable spirit, and but for the profound 
knowledge possessed by Clark of the Indian character, and 
the high rank he held in the estimation of the natives, the 
meeting of January 31st might very probably have terminated 
in the murder of the commissioners. 

[Of this treaty the following account is given, out of which, 
probably, the graphic sketch was drawn by a western writer,, 
and may be found in the first edition of these annals.] 

The Indians came in to a treaty at Fort Washington in the 
most friendly manner, except the Shawanese, the most con- 
ceited and warlike of the aborigines, the first in at a battle, 
and the last at a treaty. Three hundred of their finest war- 

*See North American Review, October, 1841, p. .330. 
tOld Journals, iv. 657. 

19 



298 Clark's Treatment of the Indians. 1786. 

riors set off in all their paint and feathers, and filed into the 
council-house. Their number and den eanor, so unusual at an 
occasion of this sort, was altogether unexpected and suspi- 
cious. The United States' stockade mustered seventy men. 
In the centre of the hall, at a little table, sat the commissary 
general, Clark, the indefatigable scourge of these very marau- 
ders; General Richard Butler and JMr. Parsons. There was 
also present a Captain Denny, who, I believe, is still alive, 
and can attest this story. On the part of the Indians, an old 
council-sachem and a war chief took the lead. The latter, a 
tall, raw-boned fellow, with an impudent and villanous look, 
made a boisterous and threatening speech, which operated 
effectually on the passions of the Indians, who set up a pro- 
digious whoop at every pause. He concluded by presenting 
a black and white wampum, to signify they were prepared for 
either event, peace or war. Clark exhibited the same unalter- 
ed and careless countenance he had shown during the whole 
scene, his head leaning on his left hand, and his elbow resting 
upon the table. He raised his little cane, and pushed the 
sacred wampum off the table, with very little ceremony. 
Every Indian at the same time started from his seat with one 
of those sudden, simultaneous, and peculiar savage sounds, 
which startle and disconcert the stoutest heart, and can neither 
be described nor forgotten. At this juncture Clark rose. The 
scrutinizing eye cowered at his glance. He stamped his foot 
on the prostrate and insulted symbol, and ordered them to 
leave the hall. The}' did so, apparently involuntarily. They 
were heard all that night, debating in the bushes near the fort. 
The raw-boned chief was for war, the old sachem for peace. 
The latter prevailed, and the next morning they came back 
and sued for peace. (Notes of an old officer. See Encyclo- 
pa-dia Americana, iii. 232.) 

But the tribes more distant than the Shawancse were in no 
way disposed to cease their incursions, and upon the 16th of 
May, the Governor of Virginia was forced to write upon the 
subject to Congress, which at once sent two companies down 
the Ohio to the Falls, and upon the 30th of June authorized the 
raising of militia in Kentucky, and the invasion of the country 
of the mischief-makers, under the command of the lea iing Unit- 
ed States' officer.* We do not learn that it was nominally 
under this resolution that General Clark's expedition of the en- 
suing fall was undertaken ; but at any rate this act on the part 
of Congress justified offensive measures on the part of the Ken- 
tuckians when they became necessary ; and it being thought 
necessary to act upon the Wabash before winter, a body of a 

* Old Journals, iv. 657 to 660. 



1786. Clark's abortive Expedition up the Wabash. 299 

thousand men, or more, gathered at the Falls, and marched 
thence toward Vincennes, which place they reached some 
time in September, 1786. 

Here the army remained inactive during nine days, waiting 
the arrival of their provisions and ammunition, which had 
been sent down to the mouth of the Wabash in boats, and 
were delayed by the low water. This stay, so different from 
Clark's old mode of proceeding, was in opposition to his ad- 
vice,* and proved fatal to the expedition. The soldiers be- 
came restive, and their confidence in the General being de- 
stroyed, by discovering the fact, that his clear mind was too 
commonly confused and darkened by the influence of ardent 
spirits, they at last refused obedience ; a body of three hundred 
turned their faces homeward, and the rest soon followed in 
their track. 

An expedition conducted by Colonel Logan against the 
Shawanese, who, in spite of their treaty, had resumed hostili- 
ties, terminated very differently from that under the conqueror 
of Illinois ; their towns were burned and their crops wasted. 

It was the gathering of the men of Kentucky for these ex- 
peditions, which prevented the meeting of the convention that 
was to have come together in September. So many were 
absent on military duty that a quorum could not be had, and 
those who came to the point of assembly, were forced, as a 
committee merely, to prepare a memorial for the Virginia 
legislature, setting forth the causes which made a convention 
at that time impossible, and asking certain changes in the Act 
of Separation.^ This done, they continued their meetings by 
adjournment during the remainder of the year, hoping a 
quorum might still be gathered ; which was not done, how- 
ever, until the ensuing January. J 

Meanwhile, beyond the Alleghenies, events were taking 
place which produced more excitement in Kentucky than In- 
dian wars, or Acts of Separation even : we refer to the 
Spanish negotiations, involving the navigation of the Missis- 
sippi. In 1780, as we have stated, Spain expressed her de- 
termination to claim the control of the great western river : in 
January, 1781, she attacked the fort of St. Joseph's, and took 
possession of the northwest in the name of his Catholic Majes- 

» Marshall, i. 250.— Butler, 153. ' 

t Marshall, i, 251. % I^iJ* 253. 



300 Negotiations with Spain. 1786. 

ty : on the 15th of the next month, Congress, at the instance 
of the Virginia Delegates, instructed Mr. Jay, then at Madrid, 
not to insist on the use of the Mississippi by the Americans, if 
a treaty could not be effected without giving it up. Through 
1782, the court of Madrid labored, not only to induce the 
United States to give up the stream of the West, but a great 
part of the West itself, and France backed her pretensions ;* 
and thus matters rested. In July, 1785, Don Diego Gardoqui, 
appeared before Congress as the representative of Spain ;t on 
the 20th of the same month, Mr. Jay, the Secretary of foreign 
affairs, was authorised to negotiate w^ith him ; and in May, of 
the year of which we are writing, negotiations begun between 
them, were brought to the notice of Congress. This w^as done 
in consequence of the fact, that in these transactions Mr. Jay 
asked the special guidance of that body, and explained his 
reasons for doing so at length. J He pointed out the import- 
ance of a commercial treaty with Spain, and dwelt upon the 
two difficulties of making such a treat}' ; one of which was, 
the unwillingness of Spain to permit the navigation of the 
Mississippi, the other, the question of boundaries. Upon the 
first point Mr. Jay was, and always had been, opposed to 
yielding to the Spanish claim ; but that claim was still as 
strenuously urged as in 1780 ; and the court of Madrid, their 
ambassador said, would never abandon it. Under these cir- 
cumstances, the interests of the whole Union demanding the 
conclusion of the Spanish commercial treaty, while that 
treaty could apparently be secured only by giving up the 
right to navigate the Mississippi, which was in a manner 
sacrificing the West, Mr. Jay proposed, as a sort of compro- 
mise, to form a treaty with Spain for twenty-five or thirty 
3'ears, and during that time to yield the right of using the Mis- 
sissippi below the boundaries of the United States. To this 
proposition, the Southern members in Congress w^ere vehe- 
mently opposed, and an attempt was made by them to take 
the whole matter out of Mr. Jay's hands, the delegates from 
Virginia oflering a long and able argument in opposition to 
his scheme ; but the members of the eastern and middle states 
out-voted the south, and the Secretary was authorised to con- 
tinue his negotiations, without being bound to insist, at all 

* Secret Journals, iv. 63 to SO. Diplomatic Corrc?pondeDce. 

t Old Journals, vr. 544. % Secret Journals, It. 43. 46. 



1786. Dissatisfaction in the West. 301 

hazards, upon the immediate mm of the river.* The discus- 
sion in Congress relative to the Spanish claims, took place 
during August, and the rumor of them, and of the Secretary's 
proposal, in due time reached the West ; but, as is common, 
the tale spread by report, differed from the truth, by represent- 
ing the proposition as much more positivb than it really was, 
and as being made by John Jay, without any sanction of 
Congress. This story, which circulated during the winter of 
1786-7, produced among those who dwelt upon the western 
waters great indignation ; and prepared the people to antici- 
pate a contest with Spain, or a union with her, and in either 
case, action independent of the old Atlantic colonies. And 
the conduct of Clark, after the failure of the Wabash expedi- 
tion, was well calculated to cause many to think that the lead- 
ing minds were already prepared for action. On the 8th of 
October, a board oi field officers at Vincennes, determined to 
garrison that point, to raise supplies by impressment, and to 
enlist new troops. Under this determination, Spanish pro- 
perty was seized, soldiers were embodied, and steps were 
taken to hold a peace council with the natives; all under the 
direction of General Clark. Soon after this, in December, 
Thomas Green wrote from Louisville to the Governor, Council 
and Legislature of Georgia— which State was involved in the 
boundary quarrel with Spain — that Spanish property had been 
seized in the north-west as a hostile measure, and not merely 
to procure necessaries for the troops, which Clark afterward 
declared was the case ; and added, that the General was 
ready to go down the river with " troops sufficient" to take 
possession of the lands in dispute, if Georgia would counte- 
nance him. This letter Clark said he never saw, but as he paid 
equally with Green towards the expenses of the messenger 
who was to take it to the south, it was natural enough to 
think him priv^y to all the plans relative to the disputed terri- 
tory, whatever they may have been. And what they were, in 
some minds at least, may perhaps, be judged by the following 
extract from a letter, also written from Louisville, professedly 
to some one in New England, and very probably by Green ; 
and which was circulated widely in Frankland, Tennessee. 
It is dated December 4, 1786. 

Our situation is as bad as it possibly can be, therefore every 

* Secret Journals, iv. 81 to 132. 



302 Expedition against Spain proposed. 1787. 

exertion to retrieve our circumstances must be manly, eligible 
and just. 

We can raise twenty thousand troops this side the Alle- 
gheny and Apalachian Mountains; and the annual increase 
of them by emigration, from other parts, is from two to four 
thousand. 

We have taken all the goods belonging to the Spanish mer- 
chants of Post Vincennes and the Illinois, and are determined 
they shall not trade up the river, provided they will not let. us 
trade down it. Preparations are now making here (if neces- 
sary) to drive the Spaniards from their settlements, at the 
mouth of the Mississippi. In case we are not countenanced 
and succored by the United States ^^if we need it) our alle- 
giance will be thrown off, and some other power applied to. 
Great Britain stands ready with open arms to receive and 
support us. They have already ofiered to open their resour- 
ces for our supplies. When once re-united to them, "fare- 
well, a long farewell to all your boasted greatness." The 
province of Canada and the inhabitants of these waters, of 
themselves, in time, will be able to conquer you. You are as 
ignorant of this country as Great Britain was of America. 
These are hints, if rightly improved, may be of some service ; 
if not, blame yourselves for the neglect.* 

Wells, Green's messenger, on his way to Georgia, showed 
his papers to various persons at Danville; copies were at 
once taken of them, and enclosed in a letter written on the 
22d of December to the Executive of Virginia, by fifteen of 
the leading citizens of Kentucky, among whom was James 
Wilkinson. In February, 1787, the Council of Virginia acted 
upon the subject; condemned Gen. Clark's conduct, disavowed 
the powers assumed by him, ordered the prosecution of the per- 
sons concerned in the seizure of property, and laid the matter 
before Congress. It was presented in detail to that body upon 
the 13th of April,t and upon the 24th of that month, it was 
resolved that the troops of the United States be employed to 
dispossess the unauthorized intruders who had taken possession 
of St. Vincents. J 

All these things naturally tended to excite speculation, in- 
quiry and fear throughout the West ; and though no action 
was had in reference to the Mississippi question beyond thw 
mountains, until the next spring, we may be sure there was 
talking and feeling enough in the interval. 

•Secret Journals, iv. ."23. 

t Secret Journals, iv. 301 to 323. 

% Old Journals, iv. 7-tO. 



1786. Putnam and Tuppcr propose to move West. 303 

But in giving the history ol" 1786, we must not omit those 
steps which resulted in the formation of the New England 
Ohio Company, and the founding of the first colony, author- 
ized by government, north-west of the Belle Riviere. 

Congress, by the resolutions of September 16, 1776, and 
August 12, 1780, had promised land bounties to the officers 
and soldiers of the Revolutionary army, who should continue in 
the service till the close of the war, or until discharged by 
Congress; and to the representatives of those who should be 
slain by the enemy.* In June, 1783, peace having been pro- 
claimed, General Rufus Putnam forwarded to Washington a 
memorial from certain of those having claims under these 
resolutions; which Washington transmitted to Congress, to- 
gether with General Putnam's letter. f But as the States 
claiming the western territory had not made their final ces- 
sions. Congress was forced, on the 29th of October, 1783, to 
announce their inability to make any appropriation of land.J 
From that time, nothing further was done until, upon the 18th 
of July, 1785, Benjamin Tupper, a Revolutionary officer be- 
longing to Massachusetts, was appointed a surveyor of western 
lands, in the place of General Putnam, who had been before 
chosen, but was otherwise engaged. He, in the course of 
that year, visited the West, going, however, no farther than 
Pittsburgh, as the Indian troubles prevented surveys.^ On his 
return home, he conferred with his friend, Putnam, as to a re- 
newal of their memorial of 1783, and a removal westward; 
which conference resulted in a publication, dated January 10, 
1786, in which was proposed the formation of a company to 
settle the Ohio lands; and those taking an interest in the 
plan, were invited to meet in February, and choose, for each 
county of Massachusetts, one or more delegates ; these dele- 
gates were to assemble on the 1st of March, at the Bunch of 
Grapes tavern in Boston, there to agree upon a system of as- 
sociation. On the day named, eleven persons appeared at 
the place agreed upon ; and by the 3d of March, the outline 
of the company was drawn up, and subscriptions under it at 
once commenced. The leading features of that outline were 

-■Land Laws, 337. 

■{"The letters relating to this petition were scot by Mr. Sparks to the Committee for the 
Celebraticn of the Settlement of Ohio, 1S35; and wtre published by them. 
JLand Lawji, 339. 
g Nye's Address, Transactions Ohio Eistoiical Society, p. 317. 



304 Ohio Company formed . — Cession by Connecticut. 1786. 

these : a fund of a million dollars, mainly in continental cer- 
tificates, was to be raised for the purpose of purchasing lands 
in the western territor}^; there were to be a thousand shares 
of one thousand dollars each, and upon each share ten dollars 
in specie were to be paid^ for contingent expenses. One 
year's interest was to be appropriated to the charges of mak- 
ing a settlement and assisting those unable to remove without 
aid. The owners of every twenty shares were to choose an 
agent to represent them, and attend to their interests ; and the 
agents were to choose the Directors.* The plan was approv- 
ed, and in a year from that time the company was organized ; 
and, before its organization, the last obstacle to the purposed 
grant from the United States, was done away by the cession of 
most of her territorial claims on the part of Connecticut. In 
October, 1780, soon after the first action of Congress relative 
to the western lands, that State had passed an act respecting 
the cession of her claim to the United States. This, on the 
31st of January, 1781, was referred, together with the reso- 
lutions of New York and Virginia, to a committee.f Various 
reports were made, and discussions had, relative to the mat- 
ter, but it was not till May 26, 1786, that the views of the 
State and the Union could be brought to a coincidence. This 
being done by a resolution of Congress, dated upon that day, 
the Delegates of Connecticut, upon the 14th of September, 
made the deed of cession by which all her claims to the coun- 
try west of a line one hundred and twenty miles beyond the 
Avestern boundary of Pennsylvania and parallel thereto, were 
given up to the confederation. J 

We have mentioned that a minority of the Convention called 
in Kentucky, to meet in September, 1786, was adjourned from 
.time to time until January of this year ; wiien, at length a 
quorum attended. Upon a vote being then taken relative to 
separation, the feeling was still, as before, strongly in favor of 
it. But scarce had this been ascertained when a second act 

•^See Nye's Addrcfs in Transactions of Ohio Ilistorical Society, Part 2d. Also, an article 
on Olii ), in Nortli American Review, for October, 1S41 ; vol. liii. 320 to 359 : this article is 
full of original matter. 

■fOld Journals, iii- 671. 

JBy this transfer, C mnecticut retiined both the soil and jurisdiction of what is now 
known as the Connecticut or Western Ec'crve. The compromise with her was disnpprovcJ 
by "\Va.=hington and others. See Sparks' Washington, ix. 173 and note. Virginia, in her 
cession, (fee p. 258) had resigncil her jurisdiction, and her "reserve" was merely of tho 
lands necessary to recompense her soldiers. 



1786. Navigation of Ike Mississippi . 305 

ppon the subject, passed by Virginia in October, 1786,* 
reached the West, and the whole question was again post- 
poned, to be laid before ajifth convention, which was to meet 
in September ; while the time when the laws of Virginia 
should cease to be of force, was changed to the close of the 
year 1778. There were many, beyond doubt, to whom 
this delay was a source of vexation and anger, but the people 
of the district generally evinced no such feelings; the elec" 
tions took place in August, and the Convention assembled upon 
the 17tli of September, all in perfect harmony and quietness. 
The vote was again unanimous in favor of separation, and 
the act of Virginia was agreed to ; to form a constitution, a 
sixth convention was to be chosen in the ensuing April, and to 
complete the work of independence, Congress was to assent 
to a formation of Kentucky into a State before July 4, 178S.-|- 

Nor w^as the spirit of moderation shown this year by the 
Kentuckians in relation to self-government, confined to that 
subject; in regard to the vexatious affair of the Spanish claims, 
there was a like temper manifested. Mr. Jay, as already re- 
lated, had been authorized by Congress to abandon tlie right 
of using the Mississippi for a term of years, but not to yield 
the pretensions of the United States to its navigation, after 
that period closed. In October, 1786, under these instructions, 
he resumed his negotiations with Don Gardoqui, but without 
success, as Spain required an entire relinquishment of the 
American claim.J In November of that year, also, Virginia 
had passed several Resolutions against giving up the use of 
the river, even for a day, and had instructed her delegates to 
oppose every attempt of the kind. When, therefore, the peo- 
ple of Kentucky met at Danville, early in May, 1787, to act 
in relation to the subject, — having been called together by 
Messrs. Muter, Innis, Brown and Sebastian, for that purpose 
— they found that little or nothing was to be done ; the plan 
of the Secretary was not likely to succeed, and had been 
fully protested against : — the assembly at Danville, having 
been informed of these things, quietly adjourned. 

What connection, if any, existed between this calmer 

*Morehea(l, 124. 

fMarshall, i. 253-256. 27-1-258. The "date July 4, 1788," is mispristed "1787" in 
Marshall, 256. 

JSecrtt Journals, iv. 297-301. 



306 Growing Dissatisfaction in the West. 1787. 

spirit in Kentucky and General Wilkinson's absence, during a 
part of the year, it is impossible to say ; but it is probable 
that had not his attention at that time been drawn to the ad- 
vantages of a trade with New Orleans, he would have exerted 
during 1787, a much greater influence upon his fellow citizens 
than he seems to have done. In June, we find hiin on his 
way to the South ; nor did he appear in Kentucky again until 
the following February ; and then it was that he commenced 
those connections with the Spanish government of Louisiana, 
which were afterwards brought in question, and by means of 
which his character became involved in doubts that have 
never entirely been done away.* 

At that period, the feeling expressed in the extract from 
a letter, which we have already quoted, that the West 
would separate from the East, seems to have been grow- 
ing even among those who, in December, 1786, denounced 
Green and Clark to the Governor of Virginia. Harry Innis, 
Attorney-General of the district, and one of those who gave 
information of the Vinccnnes proceedings, in July, 1787, writes 
to the executive of the State (Virginia), that he cannot pros- 
ecute those guilty of aggressions on the Indians, and adds : 
''I am decidedly of opinion that this Western country will, in 
a few years, act for itself, and erect an independent govern- 
ment."f This opinion was based partially upon the failure, 
on the part of Virginia and the confederation, to protect the 
frontiers, which, during this whole year, suffered both from the 
northern and southern Indians; and partly on the uncertain 
state of tlie navigation question, in respect to which the 
western men had reason, perhaps, to think that some of the 
leaders in the Old Dominion were leagued against them. 
We find, for example, Washington expressing his willingness 
that the Mississippi should be closed for a time, because, as he 
thought, its closure would knit the new colonies of the West 
more closely to the Atlantic States, and lead to the realization 
of one of his favorite projects, the opening of lines of inter- 
nal navigation, connecting the Ohio with the Potomac and 
James Iliver.J In these sentiments both Henry Lee and llich- 

*Mar.-haIl, i. 259, 2GI, 2G7. 
t Marshall, i. 270. 

X Sp\rks' Washiogton, ix. 119, 172, 261. For Washington's views on internal improve- 
nimta see oO, 2S>1, 471, 301, 320, 80, ic. 



1787. First Papers in the West. 807 

ard Henry Lee agreed.* How far these views of tlie great 
Virginians wej'e known, we cannot discover; but more or 
less distinct rumors respecting them, we may presume, were 
prevalent, so that it was by no means strange that the very 
foremost men of the West wavered in their attachment to the 
powerless, almost worthless confederation. Nor did the pros- 
pect of a new government at first help the matter. The view 
which Patrick Henry and others took of the proposed fede- 
ral constitution, was the favorite view of the Western Virgin- 
ians ; so that of fourteen representatives from the District of 
Kentucky, in the convention called in 1788, to deliberate upon 
that constitution, but three voted in favor of it : one of these 
three was Humphrey Marshall, the historian. | And this re- 
jection of the instrument under which our Union has since so 
greatly prospered, was not the result of hasty action, or strong 
party influence^ The first point is proved by the fact that it 
was made known through the press to the people of the West, 
upon the 27th of October, 1789, having been on that day 
printed in the Kentucky Gazette. J That mere party influ- 
ence did not govern the opponents of the constitution of the 
United States, is proved, both by the character of the men, 
and the debates in the convention. 

[The Kentucky Gazette, commenced in Lexington, in Au- 
gust of this year, by Mr. John Bradford, was the second news- 
paper established west of the Allegheny mountains. The first 
was the Pittsburgh Gazette, established by John Scull and 
Joseph Hall, two poor, but enterprizing young men. The firiit 
number was issued July 29, 1786. These papers contributed 
much to the grov.'th and prosperity of this central valley. §] 

*For Henry Lee's news, see Sparks, i.x. 17.3, noto, 205, note; Rioha^d Heavy L«ft% 
views, Washington's letter to bim, Sparks, is.. 261, 
t Marshall, i. 237, 
JButler, 166, note. 
I Marshall, j, 2?i.— Butler, 1G3,— Amerioan Pioneer, i, 305. 



CHAPTER XI. 

NORTH WESTERN TERRITORY. 

The Ohio Company Negotiate for Land — Their Purchase of Codctcss — Mr. Jeflsrson's 
Project of Tea States — Ordinance of 1787 — Settlements on the Muskingum — Syinmes' 
Purchase and Settlements made on the Miami — Cincinnati Founded — Trade opened 
with New Orleani — GtncrjJ Wilkiiison'i Muvementf— AiTuirs in Kentucky. 

While, south of Ohio, dissatisfaction with the federal union 
was spreading, not secretly and in spirit of treason, but openly 
and as the necessary consequences of free and unfettered 
choice, the New England associates for settling the northwest, 
were by degrees reducing their theories to practice. In 
March, 1786, it will be remembered, they began their sub- 
scription : on the Sth of that month, 1787, a meeting of Agents 
chose General Parsons, General Putnam, and the Rev. Ma- 
nasseh Cutler, Directors for the Company ; and these Direc- 
tors appointed Dr. Cutler to go to New York and negotiate 
with Congress for the desired tract of country. On the 5th of 
July, that gentleman reached the temporary Capital of the 
Union, and then began a scene of management worthy of 
more degenerate days. Full extracts from Dr. Cutler's Jour- 
nal, showing how things went, may be found in the North 
American Review for October, 1S41.* Of these we can give 
but a few paragraphs. The first relates to the choice of the 
Muskingum valley as the spot for settlement. 

July 7. Paid my respects to Dr. Ilolton and several other 
gentlemen. Was introduced, by Dr. Evvings and Mr. Ritten- 
hou.se, to Mr. Hutchins, Geographer of the United States. 
Consulted with him where to make our location. 

Monday, July 9. Waited this morning, very early, on Mr. 
Hutchins. He gave me the fullest information of the western 
country, from Pennsylvania to the Illinois, and advised me 
b}" ail means to make our location on the IMuskingum, which 
was decidedly, in his opinion, the best part of the whole west- 
ern country Attended the committee before Congress opened, 
and then spent the remainder of the forenoon with Mr. 
Hutchins. 

Attended the committee at Congress chamber ; debated on 
terms, but were so wide apart, there appears little prospect of 
closing a contract. 

• Vol. liii. 334 to 343. 



1787. Dr. Cutler negotiates ivilh Congress for Lands. 309 

Called again on Mr. Hutchins. Consulted him further 
about the place of location. 

The opinion thus given by Hutchins, who had been long 
and familiarly acquainted with the West, agreed with that 
formed by General Parsons, who had visited the Ohio valley, 
once at least, if not twice ; the result of his observations will 
be found in the letter given at length in the article of the 
North American Review, of October, 1841, already quoted. 
The other extracts which we take from the Doctor's Journal, 
refer to the " manoeuvres," as he terms them, by which was 
effected a contract at least as favorable to the Union as it v/as 
to the Company. 

Colonel Duer came to me with proposals from a number of 
the principal characters in the city, to extend our contract, and 
take in another company ; but that it should be kept a profound 
secret. He explained the plan the}^ had concerted and oflered 
me generous conditions if 1 would accomplish the business for 
them. The plan struck me agreeably; Sargent insisted on 
my undertaking ; and both urged me not to think of giving 
the matter up so soon. 

I was convinced it was best for me to hold up the idea of 
giving up a contract with Congress, and making a contract 
with some of the States, which I did in the strongest terms, 
and represented to the committee and to Duer and Sargent 
the difficulties I saw in the way, and the improbability of 
closing a bargain when we were so far separated ; and told 
them I conceived it not worth wdiile to say anything further 
to Congress on the subject. This appeared to have the effect 
I wished. The committee were mortified and did not seem to 
know what to say ; but still urged another attempt, I left 
them in this state, but afterwards explained my views to Duer 
and Sargent, who fully approved my plan. Promised Duer to 
consider his proposals. 

I spent the evening (closeted) with Colonel Duer, and 
agreed to purchase more land, if terms could be obtained, for 
another company, which will probably forward the negotiation. 

Saturday, July 21. Several members of Congress called 
on me early this morning. They discovered much anxietv 
about a contract, and assured me that Congress, on finding I 
was determined not to accept their terms, and had proposed 
leaving the city, had discovered a much more favorable dis- 
position ; and believed, if I renewed my request I might ob- 
tain conditions as reasonable as I desired. I was very indif- 
ferent and talked much of the advantages of a contract with 
one of the States. This 1 found had the desired effect. At 
length I told him that if Congress would accede to the terms 



310 Dr. Cuiler negotiates with Congress for Lands. 1787. 

I proposed, I would extend the purchase to the tenth town- 
ship trom tlie Ohio to the Scioto inclusively ; by which Con- 
gress would pay more than four millions of the public debt ; 
that our intention was, an actual, large, and immediate settle- 
ment of the most robust and industrious people in America, 
and that it would be made systematically, which would in- 
stantly advance the price of the Federal lands, and prove an 
important acquisition to Congress. .On these terms, I would 
renew the negotiation, if Congress was disposed to take the 
matter up again. 

I spent the evening with ]\Ir. Dane and Mr. jNlilliken. They 
informed me that Congress had taken up my business again. 

July 23. My friends had made every exertion, in private 
conversation, to bring over my opponents in Congress. In 
order to get at some of them so as to work more powerfully on 
their minds, were obliged to engage three or four persons be- 
fore we could get at them. In some instances we engaged 
one person who engaged a second, and he a third, before we 
could eiiect our purpose. In these manoBUvres 1 am much be- 
holden to Colonel Duer and Major Sargent. 

* * * # * .* 

Having found it impossible to support General Parsons, as 
a candidate for Governor, after the interest that General Ar- 
thur St. Clair had secured, 1 embraced this opportunity to 
declare that if General Parsons could have the appointment 
of first judge, and Sargent Secretary, we should be satisfied ; 
and that I heartily wished his Excellency General St. Clair 
might be the Governor ; and that I would solicit the Eastern 
members in his favor. This I found rather pleasing to south- 
ern members. 

* * * * * * 

1 am fully convinced that it was good policy to give up 
Parsons and openly appear solicitous that St. Clair might be 
appointed Governor. Several gentlemen have told me that 
our matters went on much better since St. Clair and his 
friends had been informed that we had given up Parsons, and 
that 1 had solicited the Eastern members in favor of his ap- 
pointment. I immediately went to Sargent and Dner, and we 
now entered into the true spirit of negotiation with great 
bodies. Every machine in the city that it was possible to 
work we now put in motion. Few, Bingham, and Kearney 
are our principal opposers. Of Few and Bingham there is 
hope ; but to bring over that stubborn mule of a Kearney, I 
think is beyond our power. 

Friday, July 27. I rose very early this morning, and, after 
adjusting my baggage for my return, for I was determined to 
leave New York this day, I set out on a general morning 
visit, and paid my respects to all the members of Congress in 



1787. Purchase hy Ohio Company. 311 

the city, and informed them of my intention to leave the city 
that day. My expectations of obtaining a contract, I told 
them, were nearly at an end. 1 should, however, wait the 
decision of Congress ; and if the terms I had stated — and 
which I conceived to be very advantageous to Congress, con- 
sidering the circumstances of that country — were not acceded 
to, we must turn our attention to some other part of the coun- 
try. New York, Connecticut, arid Massachusetts would sell us 
lands at half a dollar, and give us exclusive privileges beyond 
what we have asked of Congress. The speculating plan con- 
certed between the British of Canada, was now well known. 
The uneasiness of the Kentucky people, with respect to the 
Mississippi, was notorious. A revolt of that country from the 
Union, if a war with Spain took place, was universally 
acknowledged to be highly probable ; and most certainly a 
systematic settlement in that countr}', conducted by men 
thoroughly attached to the federal government, and composed 
of young, robust and hardy laborors, v.'ho had no idea of any 
other than the Federal Government, I conceived to be an ob- 
ject worthy of some attention. 

[This business was now managed, carried through Congress 
and brought to a conclusion in great haste. At that time the 
fiscal concerns of government were deplorable ; the treasury 
of the nation was exhausted, money could not be raised on 
loan, as the whole revolutionary debt was a terrible incubus 
on the national credit, and the only alternative was to sell 
lands. Dr. Cutler's own journal shows he managed the ne- 
gotiation shrwedly, but we will not saj', quite honorably. 

On the 23rd of July, Congress authorized the Board of 
Treasury to make the contract ; on the 26th, Messrs. Cutler 
and Sargent stated, in writing their conditions ; and on the 
27th Congress referred their letter to the Board, and an order 
of the same date was obtained. Of this, his Journal says : 

By this ordinance we obtained the grant of near five mil- 
lion of acres of land, amounting to three million and a half 
of dollars ; one million and a half of acres for the Ohio 
Company, and the remainder for a private speculation, in 
whi:-h many of the principal characters of Amerii a are con- 
cerned. Without connecting this speculation, similar terms 
and advantages could not have been obtained for the Ohio 
Compan}'. 

Messrs. Cutler and vSargent, the latter of whom the Doctor 
had associated with himself some days before, at once closed 
a verbal contract with the Board of Treasury, which was exe- 



312 Purchase hy the Ohio Company. 1786. 

cuted in form on the 27th of the following October.* By this 
contract, the vast region bounded south by the Ohio, west by 
Scioto, east by the seventh range of tov.'nships then survey- 
ing, and north ijy a due west line drawn from the north boun- 
dary of the tenth township from the Ohio direct to the Scioto, 
was sold to the Ohio associates and their secret co-partners, 
for one dolhir per acre, subject to a deduction of one-third for 
bad lands and other contingencies. The wliole tract, how- 
ever, was not paid for, or taken by the company — even their 
own portion of a million and a half of acres, and extending 
west to the eighteenth range of townships, f was not taken ; 
and in 179J, the boundaries of the purchase proper were fixed 
as follows: the Ohio on the south, the seventh range of town- 
ships on the east, the sixteenth range on the west, and a line 
on the north so drawn as to make the grant seven hundred 
and fifty thousand (750,009) acres, besides reservations; this 
grant being the portion which it was originally agreed the 
Company might enter into possession of at once. In addition 
to this, two hundred and fourteen thousand, two hundred aud 
eighty-five (214,285) acres of land M'ere granted as army 
bounties, under the resolutions of 1779, and 1780; and one 
hundred thousand (100,000) as bounties to actual settlers ; both 
of the latter tracts being within the original grant of 1787, 
and adjoining the purchase as above defined. J 

While Dr. Cutler was preparing to press his suit with Con- 
gress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance for the 
political and social organization of the Territory beyond the 
Ohio. Virginia made her ces.sion March 1, 1784, and during 
the month following, a plan for the temporary government of 
the newly acquired territory, came under discus.sion.§ On the 
19th of April, Mr. Spaight, ofXorth Carolina, moved to strike 
from that plan, which had been reported by Mr. Jefferson, a 
provision for prohibiting slavery north-west of the Ohio, after 
the year 1800, — and this motion prevailed. |j From that day 
till the 23.1, the plan was debated and altered, and then pass- 

* See Land Laws 262, to 20 1 — Old Journals, iv. Appendix, 17, IS. 

t North American Rericw, vol. liii, 343, 344. 

X Land Laws, 364 to 36S — North American Review, liii. 344. 

i> See in Old Journals, iv, 293, a pr >position io organize a western D strict, made Octo- 
ber 14, 17S3. 

Ij Old Jourcals, iv. 373. 



1787. Project of ten new States. 313 

ed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.* By 
this proposition the territory was to have been divided into 
States by parallels of latitude and meridian lines ;f this, it 
was thought, would have made ten States, which were to 
have been named as follows, beginning at the north-west cor- 
ner and going southwardly ; — Sylvania, Michigania, Cherso- 
nisus, Assenispia, Metropotamia, lUinoia, Saratoga, Wash- 
ington, Polypotamia, and Pclisipia.J Surely the hero of 
Mount Vernon must have shuddered to find himself in such 
company. 

[We shall refer to this subject in the Appendix, Annals of 
Illinois, and give the facts and references concerning the 
prohibition of slavery in the Western Territory.] 

But a more serious difficulty existed to this plan than its 
catalogue of names — namely, the number of States which it 
was proposed to form, and their boundaries. The root of this 
evil was in the resolution passed by Congress, October 10th, 
1780, which fixed the size of the States to be formed from the 
ceded lands, at one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles 
square; and the terms of that resolution had been referred to, 
both by Virginia and Massachusetts in their grants, so as to 
make farther legislation, at least by the former, needful to 
change them. Upon the 7th of July, 1786, this subject was 
taken up in Congress, and a resolution passed in favor of a 
division of not less than three nor more than five States, 
to which resolution, Virginia, at the close of 1788, assented. § 
On the 29th of Sept. 1786,Cojigress, having thus changed the 
plan for dividing the north-western territory into ten States, 
proceeded again to consider the terms of an ordinance for the 
government of that region ; and this was taken up from time 
to time, until July 13th of the 3'ear of which we are writing, 
when it was finally passed, having been somewhat changed '^'^ 
just before its passage, at the suggestion of Dr. Cutler. |) We 
give it entire as it is the corner-stone of the Constitutions of 
our north-western States. 

« Old Journals, iv, 380. 

fOld Journals, iv. 379 ; Land Laws, 347. 

JSparks' Washington, ix. 48. 

§ Land Laws, 338, 100, 101. 

li Old Journals, iv, 701, <fcc., 746, &c., 751, <feo. North American Review, liii, 33fi, 

20 



314 Ordinance of n 81. 1787. 

An Ordinance f 01' the Government of the Territory of the United 
States Northwest of the River Ohio. 

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, 
That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary govern- 
ment, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two 
districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Con- 
gress, make it expedient. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, 
both of resident, and non-resident proprietors in said territory, 
dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among, 
tlieir children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in 
equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child, or grand child, 
to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts 
among them : And where there shall be no children or de- 
scendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal de- 
gree ; and, among collaterals, the children of a deceased 
brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts 
among them, their deceased parents' share ; and there shall, 
in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and 
half-blood; saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate, 
her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of 
the personal estate ; and this law, relative to descents and 
dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legisla- 
ture of the district. And, until the governor and judges shall 
adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said terri- 
tory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed 
and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be, (being 
of full age,) and attested by three witnesses : and real estates 
may be coiiveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, 
signed, sealed, and delivered, by the person, being of full age, 
in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, 
provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be 
acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be 
recorded witliin one year after proper magistrates, courts, and 
registeis, shall be appointed for that purpose ; and personal 
property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however, to 
the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the 
Kaskaskias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages who 
have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, 
their laws and customs now in force among them; relative to 
the descent and conveyance of property. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid. That tliere shall 
be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, 
whose commission shall continue in force for three years, un- 
less sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the dis- 
trict, and have a freehold estate therein in 1000 acres of land, 
while in the exercise of his ollice. 

There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, 



1787. Ordinance of 1787. 315 

a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four 
years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, 
and have a freehold estate therein in 500 acres of land, while 
in the exercise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and 
preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the 
public records of the district, and the proceedings of the gov- 
ernor in his Executive department ; and transmit authentic 
copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the 
Secretary of Congress : There shall also be appointed a court 
to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, 
who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the 
district, and have each therein a freehold estate in 500 acres 
of land while in the exercise of their offices ; and their com- 
missions shall continue in force during good behavior. 

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt 
and pubUsh in the district such laws of the original States, 
criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the 
circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress 
from time to time ; which laws shall be in force in the district 
until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless 
disapproved of by Congress ; but, afterwards, the legislature 
shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. 

The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in- 
chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the 
same below the rank of general officers ; all general officers 
shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. 

Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the 
governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil offi- 
cers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary 
for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same : 
After the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers 
and duties of magistrates and other civil officers, shall be reg- 
ulated and defined by the said assembly ; but all magistrates 
and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, 
during the continuance of this temporary government, be ap- 
pointed by the governor. 

For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be 
adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, 
and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the gov- 
ernor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall pro- 
ceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay 
out the parts of the district in v»^hich the Indian titles shall 
have been extingui-;hed, into counties and townships, subject, 
however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by 
the legislature. 

So soon as there shall be 5000 free male inhabitants 
of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to 
the Governor, they shall receive authority, with time and 
place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships 



316 Ordinance of 1787. 1787. 

to represent them in the General Assembly : Provided, That, 
for every 600 free male inhabitants, there shall be one repre- 
sentative, and so on progressively with the number of free 
male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, 
until the number of representatives shall amount to twent}'- 
five; after which, the number and proportion of representa- 
tives shall be regulated by the Legislature : Provided, That 
no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative 
unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United 
States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless 
he shall have resided in the district three years ; and, in ei- 
ther case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, 
two hundred acres of land within the same : Provided, also, 
That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having 
been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in 
the district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in 
the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector 
of a representative. 

The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of 
two years : and, in case of the death of a representative, or 
removal from ofiice, the Governor shall issue a writ to the 
county or township for which he was a member, to elect 
another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. 

The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the 
Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representa- 
tives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, 
to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by 
Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum : and the mem- 
bers of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the 
following manner, to wit : As soon as Representatives shall 
be elected, the Governor shall appoint a time and place for 
them to meet together ; and when met they shall nominate 
ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a 
freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names 
to Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint and com- 
mission to serve as aforesaid ; and, whenever a vacancy shall 
happen in the Council, by death or removal from office, the 
House of Representatives shall nominate two persons, quali- 
fied as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to 
Congress ; one of whom Congress shall appoint and commis- 
sion for the residue of the term. And every five years, four 
months at least before the expiration of the time of service of 
the members of the Council, the said House shall nominate 
ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to 
Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commis- 
sion to serve as members of the Council five years, unless 
sooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative Council, 
and House of Representatives, shall have authority to make 
laws in all cases, for the good government of the district, not 



V 1787. Ordinance of 1787. 317 

repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance es- 
tablished and declared. And all bills, having passed by a ma- 
jority in the House, and by a majority in the Council, shall be 
referred to the Governor for his assent ; but no bill, or legisla- 
tive act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. 
The Governor shall have power to convene, prorogue, and 
dissolve the General Assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall 
be expedient. 

The Governor, Judges, Legislative Council, Secretary, and 
such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, 
shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office ; the 
Governor before the President of Congress, and all other offi- 
cers before the Governor. As soon as a Legislature shall 
be formed in the district, the Council and House assembled in 
one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a del- 
egate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a 
right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary 
government. 

And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and 
religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, 
their laws and constitutions are erected ; to fix and establish 
those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and 
governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the 
said territory; to provide also for the establishment of States, 
and permanent government therein, and for their admission 
to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the 
original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with 
the general interest : 

It is hereby ordained and declared b}' the authority afore- 
said, That the following articles shall be considered as ar- 
ticles of compact between the original States and the people 
and States in the said territory, and forever remain unaltera- 
ble, unless by common consent, to wit : 

Art. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and 
orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his 
mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory. 

Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always 
be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of 
the trial by jury, of a proportionate representation of the peo- 
ple in the Legislature ; and of judicial proceedings according 
to the course of common law. All persons shall be bailable, 
unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident 
or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate ; and 
no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man 
shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judg- 
ment of his peers or the law of the land ; and, should the 
public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preserva- 
tion, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular 



318 Ordinance of \1%1 . 1787. 

services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, 
in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood 
and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have 
force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, 
interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona 
fide, and without fraud, previously formed. 

Art. 3. Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessa- 
ry to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. 
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the 
Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from 
them without their consent; and, in their property, rights and 
liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in 
just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded 
injustice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for 
preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving 
peace and friendship with them. 

Art. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be 
formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confedera- 
cy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of 
Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be con- 
stitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the 
United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. 
The inhabitants and settlers in the said territor}^ shall be 
subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted, or to be 
contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of gov- 
ernment, to be apportioned on them by Congress according to 
the same common rule and measure by which apportionments 
thereof shall be made on the other States; and the taxes, for 
paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the au- 
thority and direction of the Legislatures of the district or 
districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the 
time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. 
The Legislatures of those districts or new States, shall never 
interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United 
States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Con- 
gress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to 
the bona fide purchasers.* No tax shall be imposed on lands 
the property of the United States ; and, in no case, shall non- 
resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The 
navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Law- 
rence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be 
common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabi- 
tants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United 
States, and those of any other States that may be admitted 

*Act of 25tb Fcbruarj', 1811, provides the same in Louisiana; and, alfo, that lands sold 
by Congress shall not be taxed for five years after sale;— in Mississippi, by act of 1st 
March, 1817, and so of all others. 



1787. Ordinance of 1787. 319 

into the Confederacy, Avithout any tax, impost or duty, there- 
for. 

Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not 
less than three nor more than five States ; and the bounda- 
ries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of 
cession, and consent to the same, shall become fixed and es- 
tablished as follows, to wit : The western State in the said 
territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and 
Wabash rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and 
Post St. Vincent's due north, to the territorial line between 
the United States and Canada; and, by the said territorial 
line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle 
State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from 
Post St. Vincent's, to the Ohio; by the Ohio, by a direct line 
drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, to the 
said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by the 
last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said 
territorial line : Provided, however, and it is further understood 
and declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall 
be subject so far to be altered, that if Congress shall here- 
after find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one 
or two States in that part of the said territory which lies 
north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly 
bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And, whenever any of 
the said States shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such 
State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of 
the United States on an equal footing with the original 
States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form 
a permanent constitution and State government: Provided, 
the constitution and govp.rnment so to be formed, shall be re- 
publican, and in conformity to the principles contained in 
these articles ; and so far as it can be consistent with the gen- 
eral interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be 
allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less 
number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. 

Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery or involuntary ser- 
vitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment 
of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted : 
Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same,, 
from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of 
the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed 
and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- 
vice as aforesaid. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolu- 
tions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this 
ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared 
null and void. Done, &c.* 

*Land Laws, p. 356. 



Symmes Applies for Land. 1788. 

The passage of this ordinance, and the grant to the New 
England associates, was soon followed by an application to 
government by John Cieve Symmes, of New Jersey, for the 
country between the Miamis.* This gentleman had been led 
to visit that region by the representations of Benjamin Stites, 
of Red Stone, (Brownsville,) who had examined the valUes 
of the Shawanese soon after the treaty of January, 1786.f 
Symmes found them all, and more than all they had been rep- 
resented to be, and upon the 29th of August, 1787, wrote to 
the President of Congress, asking that the Treasury Board 
might be empowered to contract with him for the district 
above named. This petition, on the 2d of October, was re- 
ferred to the Board, with power to act, and a contract was 
concluded the next year. Upon the 18th of the month last 
named, another application was made by Royal Flint and Jo- 
seph Parker, for lands upon the Wabash and Mississippi ;J 
this was also referred to the Board of Treasury. 

During this autumn the directors of the company organized 
in New England, were preparing for an actual settlement in 
the ensuing spring, and upon the 23d of November, made ar- 
rangements for a party of forty-seven men, unt'er the superin- 
tendence of General Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six boat- 
builders were to leave the next week ; on the 1st of January, 
1788, the surveyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, 
were to meet at Hartford, and go westward ; and the remain- 
der to follow as soon as possible. Congress, meantime, upon 
the 3d of October, had ordered seven hundred troops for the 
defence of the western settlers, and to prevent unauthorized 
intrusions ; and two days later appointed St. Clair governor 
of the North-western Territory.]] 

The two leading causes of disquiet to the western people 
through 1787, the Indian incursions, and the Spanish posses- 
sion of the Mississippi, did not cease to irritate them during 
the next year also. 

* Land Laws, 372. See also Burnet's Letters in the Ohio Historical Tranfactions, p. 335 
t« 347. ^ 

t Cincinnati Directory, ISIO, p. 10. The Historical sketch in this volume was compile*! 
from the statements of the earliest settlers. The Miami country had been entered in 
1785, and some "improrements" made. Cisl's Cincinnati Miscellany, ii. 33. 

X Old Journals, iv. Appendix 19. 

I North American Review, liii. Zil. Old Journals, iv. 785, 786. 



1788. Measures to pi-cscrve Peace. 321 

When Clark took his unauthorized possession of Vincennes, 
in October, 1786, he had asked the savages of the north-west 
to meet him in council in November; they repUed that it was 
too late in the year, and the proposed meeting was postponed 
till April. Of this meeting Messrs. Marshall, Muter, and oth- 
ers, when writing to Virginia, gave information, and suggested 
that the government should take Clark's place in it. The 
Council of Virginia coincided with the suggestion, and recom- 
mended to Congress James Wilkinson, Richard C. Anderson 
and Isaac Shelby,* as commissioners on behalf of the United 
States. Congress, however, received notice of Clark's move- 
ments too latef for the proposed treaty, and nothing seems to 
have been done until July 21st, when the superintendant of 
Indian affairs in the north, or, if he could not go, Colonel Har- 
mar, was instructed to proceed to Vincennes, or some other 
convenient place, and there hold a council with the Wabash 
Indians and Shawanese, for the purpose of putting an end to 
warfare. J Favorable notice was also taken of a council 
which had been held at the mouth of Detroit river, in Decem- 
ber, 1786, by the Iroquois, Wyandots and others, the purpose 
of which was pacific, and from which an address relative to 
the Indian troubles had been sent to Congress. This was 
considered, and upon the 5th of October it was resolved, that 
a treaty should be held early in the year 1788, with these 
tribes, by the governor of the new territory, who was instruct- 
ed on the subject, on the 26th of the month last mentioned. || 
At the same time, however, that measures were thus taken to 
preserve peace, troops were placed at Venango, Fort Pitt, Fort 
Mcintosh, the Muskingum, the Miami, Vincennes, and Louis- 
ville, and the governor of Virginia was requested to have the 
militia of Kentucky in readiness for any emergency. § AH these 
measures, however, produced no results during 1788 ; the Indi- 
ans were neither overawed, conquered, nor satisfied ; from May 
until the middle of July they were expected to meet the 
whites upon the Muskingum, but the point which had been 

* Secret Journals, iv. 313, 314, 309, 306. 
t April 12tli. Secret Journals, iv. 301. 
J Old Journals, iv. 761. 

il Lanman's History of Michigan, 149. Old Journal?, iv. 762, 763, 7S6. Secret Jour- 
nals, i. 276. 

§ Old Journals, iv. 762. 



322 Emigrants Land at Muskingum. 1788. 

selected, and where goods had been placed, being at last at- 
tacked by the Chippe\va3-.s, it was thought best to adjourn the 
meeting and hold it at Fort llarmar, where it was at length 
helJ, but not until January, 1789. 

These Indian uncertainties, however, did not prevent the 
New England associates from going forward with their opera- 
tions. During the winter of 1787-8, their men M'ere press- 
ing on over the Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had 
been opened into Braddock's road, and which has since been 
followed by the national turnpike from Cumberland westward. 
Through the dreary winter da3"s they trudged on, and by April 
were all gathered on the Yohiogany,* where boats had been 
built, and started for the Muskingum. On the 7th of April 
they landed at the spot chosen, and became the founders of 
Ohio, unless we regard as such the Moravian Missionaries. 

As St. Ulair, who had been appointed governor the preced- 
ing October, had not yet arrived, it became necessary to erect 
a temporary government for their internal security ; for which 
purpose a set of laws was passed, and published by being 
nailed to a tree in the village, and Return Jonathan Meigs 
was appointed to administer them. It is a strong evidence of 
the good habits of the people of the colony, that during three 
months, but one diflerence occurred, and that was compro- 
mised.! Indeed, a better set of men altogether, could scarce 
have been selected for the purpose, than Putnam's little band. 
Washington might well say, " no colony in America was ever 
settled under such favorable auspices as that which has first 
commenced at the Muskingum. Information, property, and 
strength will be its characteristics. I know many of the set- 
tlers personall}', and there never were men better calculated 
to promote the welfare of such a community. "J 

On the 2d of July, a meeting of the directors and agents 
was held on the banks of the Muskingum, for the purpose of 
naming the new born city and its public squares.^ As yet the 
settlement had been merely "The Muskingum,"|| but the name 

* A li?t of the forty-eight is giTCn, North American Review, liii. 346. 
t Western Monthly Magazine, 1833, vol. i. p. 395. 
X Sparks' War^hington, i.v. 384. 
§ American Pioneer, i. 83. 

II Some of the settlers called it the city of Adelphi: Sec a letter dated Moy ICth, 1783, 
to the Massachusetts Spy in Imlay (Ed. 1797) p. 595. 



1788. Marietta Founded. 323 

Marietta was now formally given it, in honor of Marie Antoi- 
nette; the square upon which the block-houses stood was 
christened Campus Martins; the square No. 19, Capitolium ; 
the square No. 61, Cecilia; and the great road through the 
covert way, Sacra Via* 

On the 4th of July an oration was delivered by James jM. 
Varnum,f who, with II. S. Parsons and John Armstrong,Jhad 
been appointed to the judicial bench of the territory, on the 
16th of October, 1787. Five days after the Governor arrived, 
and the colony began to assume form. The ordinance of 1787 
provided two distinct grades of government for the north- 
west territory, under the first of which the whole power was 
in the hands of the governor and the three judges, and this 
form was at once organized upon the governor's arrival. The 
first law, which was "for regulating and e"stablishing the mili- 
tia," was published upon the 25th of July; and the next day, 
appeared the governor's proclamation, erecting all the coun- 
try that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto river 
into the county of Washington.§ 

From that time forward, notwithstanding the doubt yet ex- 
isting as to the Indians, all at Marietta went on prosperously 
and pleasantly. On the 2d of September the first court was 
held, with becoming ceremonies. 

The procession was formed at the Point, (where most of the 
settlers resided,) in the following order : — 1st, the high Sheriff, 
with his drawn sword ; 2d, the citizens ; 3d, the ofiicers at the 
garrison at Fort Harmar ; 4th, the members of the bar; 5th, 
the Supreme Judges ; 6lh, the Governor and Clergyman ; 7th, 
the newly appointed Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, 
Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper. 

They marched up a path that had been cut and cleared 
through the forest to Campus Martins Hall, (stockade.) where 
the whole counter-marched, and the Judges, (Putnam and 
Tupper) took their seats. The Clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, 
then invoked the divine blessing. The Sheriff, Col. Ebenezer 

*Carey's Museum, vol. iv. p. 390. la the fifth volume (March, 1789) of that periodical, 
page 28-4, is an account of the city of Athens, which the Spaniards at this time proposed to 
build at the mouth of the Missouri. "On the very point" where the rivers joined, was to 
be Fort Solon ; not for defence, however, "but for the retirement of the Governor from iLe 
busy scenes of public employment." 

t See this oration in Carey's Museum for May, 17S9, 453 to 455. 

X Mr. Armstrong declined serving. John Cleve Symmes was chosen in his stead, Feb. 
19 th, 17SS. 

** Chase, vol. i. p. 92. Carey's Museum, iv, 433. 



324 Great Emigralion Westward. 1788. 

Sproat, (one of nature's nobles,) proclaimed with his solemn 
'O yes, that a court is opened for the administration of even- 
handedjustice, to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the 
innocent, without respect to persons; none to be punished 
without a trial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the 
laws and evidence in the case.' Although this scene was ex- 
hibited thus early in the settlement of the State, few ever 
equalled it in the dignity and exalted character of its princi- 
pal j)articipators. Many of them belonged to the history of 
our country, in the darkest as well as the most splendid peri- 
ods of the Revolutionary war. To witness this spectacle, a 
large body of Indians was collected, from the most powerful 
tribes then occupying the almost entire West. They had as- 
sembled for the purpose of making a treaty. Whether any of 
them entered the hall of justice, or what were their impres- 
sions, we are not told. (American Pioneer, i. p. 165.) 

The progress of the settlement, says a letter from JNIuskin- 
gum, "is sufficiently rapid for the hrst year. We are con- 
tinually erecting houses, but arrivals are faster than we can 
possibly provide convenient covering. Our first ball was 
opened about the middle of December, at which were fifteen 
ladies, as well accomplished in the manners of polite circles 
as any 1 have ever seen in the old States. I mention this to 
show the progress of society in this new world ; vvhrre 1 be- 
lieve we shall vie with, if not excel, the old States, in every 
accomplishment necessary to render life agreeable and hap- 
py." 

The emigration westward, even at this time, was very great; 
the commandant at P'ort Harmar reporting four thousand five 
hundred persons as having passed that post between Februa- 
ry and June, 1788; many of Avhom would have stopped on 
the purchase of the Associates, had they been ready to re- 
ceive them. 

During the following year, and indeed until the Indians, 
who, in spite of treaties, had been committing small depreda- 
tions all the time, stealing horses and sinking boats, went 
fairly and openly to war, the settlement on the Muskingum 
grew slowly, but steadily, and to good purpose ; the first at- 
tack made by Indians on the Muskingum settlements, began 
January 2d, 1791. 

Nor were Symmes and his New Jersey friends idle during 
this year, though his purchase was far more open to Indian 
depredations than that of the Massachusetts men. His first 
proposition had been referred, as we have said, to the Board 
of Treasury, with power to contract, upon Hie 2d of Oct. 1787. 



1788. Symmes'' Purchase. 325 

Upon the 26th of the next month, Symmes issued a pamph- 
let, addressed "to the respectable public," stating the terms of 
his contract, and the scheme of sale which he proposed to 
adopt. This was, to issue his warrants for not less than a 
quarter section, (a hundred and sixty acres,) which might be 
located any where, except, of course, on reservations, and 
spots previously chosen. No section was to be divided, if the 
warrant held by the locator would cover the whole. The 
price was to be sixty cents and two-thirds per acre, till May, 
1788 ; then one dollar till November ; and, after that time, 
was to be regulated by the demand for land. Every locator 
was bound to begin improvements within two years, or forfeit 
one-sixth of his purchase to whoever would settle thereon and 
remain seven years. Military bounties might be taken in this 
as in the purchase oft he associates. For himself, Symmes re- 
tained one township at the mouth of the Great Miami, at the 
junction of which stream with the Ohio, he proposed to build 
his great city ; to help the growth of which he oflcred each 
alternate lot to any one that would build a house and live 
therein three years. 

As Continental certificates were rising, in consequence of 
the great land purchases then making with them, and as diffi- 
culty was apprehended in procuring enough to make his first 
payment, Symmes was anxious to send forward settlers early, 
that the true value of his purchase might become known at 
the east. He had, however, some difliculty in arranging with 
the Board of Treasury the boundaries of the first portion he 
was to occupy.* 

In January, 1788, Mathias Denman, of New Jerse}^ took an 
' interest in Symmes' purchase, and located, among other tracts, 
the sectional and fractional section upon which Cincinnati 
has been built. f Iletaining one-third of this particular lo- 
cality, he sold another third to Robert Patterson, and the re- 
mainder to John Filson ; and the three, about August, 1788, 
agreed to lay out a town on the spot, which Mas designated 
as being opposite Licking river, to the mouth of which they 
proposed to have a road cut from Lexington, Kentucky, to be 

* Manuscript Letters of Symmes. See Burnet's Letters, 136. 

t Many facts relative to the settlement of Cincinnati, we take from the depositions of 
Denman, Patterson, Ludlow, and others, contained in the report of the chancery trial of 
City of Cincinnati vs. Joel Williams, in 1807. 



326 Cincinnati laid out. 1788. 

connected with the northern shore by a ferry. Mr. Filson, 
who had been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the 
town ; and, in respect to its situation, and as if Avith a pro- 
phetic perception of the mixed race that were in after days to 
/ inhabit there, he named it Losantiville, which, being interpre- 
ted, means ville, the town ; avti, opposite to; os, the mouth ; L, 
of Licking. J This may well put to the blush the Ccnnpus 
Martius of the Marietta scholars, and the Fort Solon of the 
Spaniards. 

Meanwhile, in July, Symmcs got thirty people and eight 
four-hor-se wagons under way for tlie West. These reached 
Limestone (now JMaysville) in September, where they found Mr. 
Stites \\ith several persons from Red Stone. But the mind of 
the cliief purchaser was full of trouble. He had not only 
been obliged to relinquish his first contract, which was ex- 
pected to embrace two millions of acres, but had failed to 
conclude one for the single million which he now proposed 
taking. This arose from a difference between him and the gov- 
ernment, he wishing to have the w'hole Ohio from between the 
Miamies, while the Board of Treasury wished to confine him 
to twenty miles upon the Ohio. This proposition, however, 
he would not for a long time agree to, as he had made sales 
along nearly the whole Ohio shore. Leaving the bargain in 
this unsettled state, Congress considered itself released from 
its obligation to sell ; and, but for the representations of some 
of his fiiends, our adventurer would have lost his bargain, his 
labor, and his money. Nor was this all. In February, 1788, 
he had been appointed one of the judges of the North-west 
Territory, in the place of Mr. Armstrong, who declined serv- 
ing. This appointment gave offence to some ; and others 
were envious of the great fortune which it was thought he 
would make. Some of his as.'^^ociates complained of him, also, 
probably of iiis endangering the contract to which they had 
become parties, ^yith these murmurs and reproaches behind 
him, he saw before him danger, delay, suffering, and, perhaps, 
ultimate failure and ruin, and, although hopeful by nature, 
apparently he felt discouraged and sad. Ilow'evcr, a visit to 
his purchase, where he landed upon the 22d of September, 
revive'd his .spirits, and upon his return to Maysville, he wrote 
to Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, who had become in- 

t Cincinnati Directory [for 1S19, p. 18. 



1788. Trouhles of Symmes. 327 

terested with him, that he thought some of the land near the 
Great Miami " positively worth a silver dollar the acre in its 
present state." 

It may be as well to give here a sketch of the changes 
made in Symmes' contract. His first application Mas for all 
the country between the Miamies, running up to the north line 
of the Ohio Company's purchase, extending due west. On 
the 22d of October, 1787, Congress resolved, that the Board 
of Treasury be authorized to contract with any one for tracts 
of not less than a million acres of western lands, the front of 
wdiich, on the Ohio, Wabash and other rivers, should not ex- 
ceed one-third the depth. On the 15th of May, 1788, Dayton 
and Mai'sh, as Symmes' agents, concluded a contract with the 
Commissioners of the Treasury for two millions of acres in 
two equal tracts. In July, Symmes concluded to take only 
one tract, but dillered with the Commissioners on the grounds 
stated in the text. After much negotiation, upon the 15th of 
October, 1788, Dayton and Marsh concluded a contract with 
government, bearing date May 15th, for one million of acres, 
beginning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the 
Great Miami, and to run back for quantity between the Miami 
and a line drawn from the Ohio parallel to the general course 
of that river. In 1791, Symmes found this would throw his 
purchase too far back from the Ohio, and applied to Congress 
to let him have all between the Miamies, running back so as 
to include a million acres, which that body, on the 12th of 
April, 1792, agreed to do. When the lands between the 
Miamies were surveyed, however, it was found that the tract 
south of a line drawn from the head of the Little, due west to 
the Great Miami, would include less than six hundred thou- 
sand acres ; but even this Symmes could not pay for, and, 
w^hen his patent issued upon the 30th September, 1794, it 
gave him and his associates but two hundred and forty-eight 
thousand five hundred and forty acres, exclusive of reserva- 
tions, which amounted to sixty-three thousand one hundred 
and forty-two acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, 
the two Miamies, and a due east and west line, run so as to 
comprehend the desired quantity. As Symmes made no far- 
ther pa3-ments after this time, the rest of his purchase revert- 
ed to the United States, who gave those that had bought 
under Symmes ample pre-emption rights. See Land Laics, 
pp. 272-382, et scq and post. 

About this time the Indians were threatening; in Kentucky, 
he says, " they are perpetually doing mischief; a man a week, 
I believe, falls by their hands ; but still government gave him 
little help toward defending himself; for, while three hundred 
men were stationed at Muskingum, he had ' but one ensign 



328 Troubles of Symmcs. 1788. 

and seventeen men for the protection and defence of ' the 
slaughter-house,'" as the Miami valley was called by the 
dwellers upon the "dark and bloody ground" of "Kentucke." 
And when Captain Kearny and forty-five soldiers came to 
Maysville in December, they came without provisions, and but 
made bad worse. Nor did their coming answer any purpose ; 
for when a little band of settlers were ready to go, under their 
protection, to the mouth of the Miami, the grand city of 
Symmes that was to be, the ice stove their boats, their cattle 
were drowned, and their provisions lost, and so the settlement 
was prevented. But the fertile mind of a man like our ad- 
venturer could, even under these circumstances, find comfort 
in the anticipation of what was to come. In the words of 
Return Jonathan Meigs, the first Ohio poet with whom we 
have any acquaintance, 

" To him glad Fancy brightest prospects shows, 
Rejoicing Nature all around him glows ; 
Where late the savage, hid in ambush, lay, 
Or roamed the uncultured valleys for his prey, 
Her hardy gifts rough Industry extends, 
The groves b"W down, tlie lofty forest bends ; 
And see the spires Of towns and cities rise, 
And domes and temples swell unto the skies."* 

But alas ! so far as his pet city was concerned, " glad Fancy" 
proved but a gay deceiver ; for there came " an amazing high 
freshet," and " the Point," as it was, and still is called, was 
fifteen feet under water. 

But, before Symmes left Maysville, which was upon the 
29th of January, 1789, two settlements had been made within 
his purchase. The first was by Mr. Stites, the original pro- 
jector of the whole plan ; who, with other Redstone people, 
had located themselves at the mouth of the Little Miami, 
where the Indians had been led by the great fertility of the 
soil to make a partial clearing. To this point, on the 18th of 
November, 1788, came twenty-six persons, who built a block- 
house, named their town Columbia, and prepared for a winter 
of want and hard fighting. f The land at this point was so 
fertile, that from nine acres were raised nine hundred and 
sixty-three bushels of Indian corn. But they were agreeably 

* Poem delivered at Marietta, July 4th, slightly altered, 
t Cincinnati Directory for IS 19, and Symmes' Letters. 



1788. Columbia Settled. 329 

disappointed : the Indians came to them, and though the 
whites answered, as Symmes says, " in a blackguarding man- 
ner," the savages sued for peace. One, at whom a rifle was 
presented, took off' his cap, trailed his gun, and held out his 
right hand, by which pacific gestures he induced the Ameri- 
cans to consent to their entrance into the block-houses. In a 
few days this good understanding ripened into intimacy, the 
" hunters frequently taking shelter for the night at the Indian 
camps;" and the red-men and squaws " spending whole days 
and nights" at Columbia, " regaling themselves with whis- 
ky." This friendly demeanor on the part of the Indians was 
owing to the kind and just conduct of Symmes himself; who, 
during the preceding September, when examining the counr 
try about the Great Miami, had prevented some Kentuckians, 
who were in his company, from injuring a band of the sav- 
ages that came within their power ; which proceeding, he 
says, " the Kentuckians thought unpardonable." 

The Columbia settlement was, however, like that proposed 
at the Point, upon land that was under water during the high 
rise in January, 1789. " But one house escaped the deluge." 
The soldiers were driven from the ground-floor of the block- 
house into the loft, and from the loft into the solitary boat 
which the ice had spared them. 

This flood deserves to be commemorated in an epic ; for, 
while it demonstrated the dangers to which the three chosen 
spots of all Ohio, Marietta, Columbia, and the Point, must be 
ever exposed, it also proved the safety, and led to the rapid 
settlement of Losantiville. The great recommendation of the 
spot upon which Denman and his comrades proposed to build 
their " Mosaic" town, as it has been called, appears to have 
been the fact, that it lay opposite the Licking ; the terms of 
Denman's purchase having been, that his warrants were to be 
located, as nearly as possible, over against the mouth of that 
river; though the advantage of the noble and high plain at 
that point could not have escaped any eye. But the freshet 
of 1789 placed its superiority over other points more strongly 
in view than anything else could have done. 

[John Filson was killed by the Indians in the Miami valley i^ 
in the autumn of 178S.] As nothing had been paid upon his "^ 
third of the plat of Losantiville, his heirs made no claim upon 
it, and it was transferred to Israel Ludlow, who had been 
21 



330 Cincinnati Settled. 1788. 

Symmes' surveyor. This gentleman, with Colonel Patterson, 
one of the other proprietors, and well known in the Indian 
wars, with about fourteen others, left iNlaysville upon the 
24th of December, 1788, "to form a station and lay of a 
town opposite Licking." The river was filled with ice " from 
shore to shore ;" but, says Symmes, in May, 1789, " persever- 
ance triumphing over difficulty, they landed safe on a most 
delightful high bank of the Ohio, where they founded the 
town of Losantiville, \\\\\ch. populates considerably." 

It is a curious fact, and one of many in western history, 
that may well tend to shake our faith in the learned discus- 
sions as to dates and localities with which scholars now and 
then amuse the world, that the date of the settlement of Cin- 
cinnati is unknown, even though we have the testimony of 
the very men that made the settlement. Judge Symmes says 
in one of his letters, " On the 24th of December, 1788, Colo- 
nel Patterson, of Lexington, who is concerned with Mr. Den- 
man in the section at the mouth of Licking river, sailed from 
Limestone," &c. Some, supposing it would take about two 
days to make the voyage, have dated the being of the Queen 
City of the West from December 26th. This is but guess- 
work, however ; for, as the river was full of ice, it might have 
taken ten days to have gone the sixty-five miles from Mays- 
ville to Licking. But, in the case in chancery, to which we 
have referred, we have the evidence of Patterson and Ludlow, 
that they landed opposite the Licking " in the month of Jan- 
uary, 1789;" while William McMillan testifies that he " was 
one of those who formed the settlement of Cincinnati on the 
28th day of December, 1788." As we know of nothing more 
conclusive on the subject than these statements, we must 
leave this (juestion in the same darkness that we find it. 

The settlers of Losantiville built a few log huts and block- 
houses, and proceeded to lay out the town ; though they 
placed their dwellings in the most exposed situation, yet, says 
Symmes they '' sullered nothing from the freshet." 

South of the Ohio, during this year, matters were in scarce 
as "-ood a train as upon the " Indian" side of the river. The 
savao-es continued to annoy the settlers, and the settlers to re- 
taliate upon the savages, as Judge Symmes' letters have 
already shown. But a more formidable source of trouble to 
the district than any attack the red men were capable of 



1788. General Wilkinson's Plans. 331 

making, was the growing disposition to cut loose from the 
Atlantic colonies, and either by treaty or warfare obtain the 
use of the Mississippi from Spain. We have already men- 
tioned Wilkinson's trip to New Orleans, in June, 1787 ; but 
as that voyage was the beginning of that long and mysterious 
Spanish intrigue with the citizens of the West, it seems worth 
while to quote part of a paper, believed to be by Daniel 
Clark, the younger, whose uncle of the same name was the 
agent and partner* of Wilkinson, in New Orleans, and who 
was fully acquainted with the government officers of Louis- 
iana.! 

About the period of which we are now speaking, in the 
middle of the year 1787, the foundation of an intercourse 
with Kentucky and the settlements on the Ohio was laid, 
which daily ijicreased. Previous to that time, all those who 
ventured on the Mississippi had their property seized by the 
first commanding officer they met, and little or no communi- 
cation was kept up between the two countries. Now and 
then, an emigrant who wished to settle in Natchez, by dint of 
entreaty, and solicitation of friends who had interests in New 
Orleans, procured permission to remove there with his family, 
slaves, cattle, furniture and farming utensils ; but was allowed 
to bring no other property, except cash. An unexpected in- 
cident, however, changed the face of things, and was produc- 
tive of a new line of conduct. The arrival of a boat, belong- 
ing to General Wilkinson, loaded with tobacco and other pro- 
ductions of Kentucky, was announced in town, and a guard 
was immediately sent on board of it. The general's name 
had hindered this being done at Natchez, as the commandant 
was fearful that such a step might be displeasing to his supe- 
riors, who might wish to show some respect to the property of 
a general officer; at any rate, the boat was proceeding to Or- 
leans, and they would then resolve on what measures they 
ought to pursue, and put into execution. The government, 
not much disposed to show any mark of respect or forbear- 
ance towards the general's property, he not having at that 
time arrived, was about proceeding in the usual way of con- 
fiscation, when a merchant in Orleans, who had considerable 

^ Wilkinson says the partnership was formed without his knowledge or consent (M»- 
moir?, ii. 113.) 
"f American State Papers, xx. 704. 



332 Trade Opened with New Orleans. 1788. 

influence there, and who was formerly acquainted with the 
general, represented to the governor that the measures taken 
by the Intendant would very probably give rise to disagreea- 
ble events ; that the people of Kentucky were already exas- 
perated at the conduct of the Spaniards in seizing on the prop- 
erty of all those who navigated the Mississippi ; and if this 
system was pursued, they would very probably, in spite of 
Congress and the Executive of the United States, take upon 
themselves to obtain the navigation of the river by force, 
which they were well able to do ; a measure for some time 
before much dreaded by this government, which had no force 
to resist them, if such a plan was put in execution. Hints 
were likewise given that Wilkinson was a very popular man, 
who could influence the whole of that country ; and probably 
that his sending a boat before him, with a wish that she might 
be seized, was but a snare at his return to influence the minds 
of the people, and, having brought them to the point he wished, 
induce them to appoint him their leader, and then like a tor- 
rent, spread over the country, and carry fire and desolation 
from one end of the province to the other. 

Governor Miro, a weak man, unacquainted with the Ameri- 
can Government, ignorant even of the position of Kentucky 
with respect to his own province, but alarmed at the very idea 
of an irruption of Kentucky men, whom he feared without 
knowing their strength, communicated his wishes to the In- 
tendant that the guard might be removed from the boat, which 
was accordingly done ; and a JMr. Patterson, who was the 
agent of the general, was permitted to take charge of the 
property on board, and to sell it, free of duty. The general, 
on his arrival in Orleans, some time after, was informed of 
the obligation he lay under to the merchant who had im- 
pressed the government with such an idea of his importance 
and influence at home, waited on him, and, in concert with 
him, formed a plan for their future operations. In his inter- 
view with the governor, that he might not seem to derogate 
from the character given of him, by appearing concerned in 
so trifling a business as a boat-load of tobacco, hams, and but- 
ter, he gave him to understand that the jiroperty belonged to 
many citizens of Kentucky, who, availing themselves of his 
return to the Atlantic States, by way of Orleans, wished to 
make a trial of the temper of this government, as he, on his 



1788, Trade Opened with New Orleans. 333 

arrival, might inform his own what steps had been pursued 
under his eye, that adequate measures might be afterwards ta- 
ken to procure satisfaction. He acknowledged with gratitude 
the attention and respect manifested by the governor towards 
himself in the favor shown to his agent; but at the same time 
mentioned that he would not wish the governor to expose 
himself to the anger of his court by refraining from seizing on 
the boat and cargo, as it was but a trifle, if such were the 
positive orders from the court, and he had not the power to 
relax them according to circumstances. Convinced by this 
discourse that the general rather wished for an opportunity of 
embroiling affairs, than sought to avoid it, the governor be- 
came more alarmed. For two or three years before, particu- 
iarly since the arrival of the commissioners from Georgia, who 
had come to Natchez to claim that country, he had been fear- 
ful of an invasion at every annual rise of the waters, and the 
news of a few boats being seen was enough to alarm the 
whole province. He revolved in his mind what measures he 
ought to pursue (consistent with the orders he had from home 
to permit the free navigation of the river) in order to keep 
the Kentucky people quiet; and, in his succeeding interviews 
with Wilkinson, having procured more knowledge than he 
had hitherto acquired of their character, population, strength, 
and disposition, he thought he could do nothing better than 
hold out a bait to Wilkinson to use his influence in restraining 
the people from an invasion of this province till he could give 
advice to his court, and require further instructions. This 
was the point to which the parties wished to bring him ; and, 
being informed that in Kentucky two or three crops were on 
hand, for which, if an immediate vent was not to be found, 
the people could not be kept within bounds, he made Wilkin- 
son the offer of a permission to import, on his own account, 
to New Orleans, free of ducy, all the productions of Kentucky, 
thinking by this means to conciliate the good-will of the peo- 
ple, without yielding the point of navigation, as the com- 
merce carried on would appear the effect of an indulgence to 
an individual, which could be withdrawn at pleasure. On 
consultation with his friends, who well knew what further 
concessions Wilkinson would extort from the fears of the 
Spaniards, by the promise of his good offices in preaching 
peace, harmony, and good understanding with his govern- 



334 Kentucky not Made a State. 1788. 

ment, until arrangements were made between Spain and 
America, he was advised to insist that the governor should 
insure him a market for all the flour and tobacco he might 
send, as in the event of an unfortunate shipment, he would be 
ruined whilst endeavoring to do a service to Louisiana. This 
was accepted. Flour was always wanted in New Orleans, 
and the king of Spain had given orders to purchase more to- 
bacco for the supply of his manufactories at home than Louis- 
iana at that time produced, and which was paid for at about 
$9.50 per cwt. In Kentucky it cost but ^2, and the profit 
was immense. In consequence, the general had appointed 
his friend, Daniel Clark, his agent here, returned by way of 
Charleston in a vessel, with a particular permission to go to 
the United States, even at the very moment of Gardoqui's in- 
formation ; and, on his arrival in Kentucky, bought up all the 
produce he could collect, which he shipped and disposed of 
as before mentioned ; and for some time all the trade for the 
Ohio was carried on in his name, a line from him sufficing to 
ensure the owner of the boat every privilege and protection.* 

[This Daniel Clark, we suppose, was the father of Mrs. 
Gaines ] 

Whatever Wilkinson's views may have been, (and we 
should never forget that there was no treachery or treason 
against the United States in leaving the old colonies and 
forming an alliance with Spain at that period) — such a recep- 
tion as he had met with at New Orleans, was surely calculat- 
ed to make him and his friends feel that by either intimida- 
tion, or alliance, the free trade they wished might be had from 
Spain, could the act of Independence but be finally made 
binding by the consent of Congress, which was to be given 
before July 5th, 178S. It is not to be doubted that this agree- 
ment on the part of the Union was looked ibr as a matter of 
course almost; — Kentucky had spoken her wishes over and 
over again, and Virginia had acquiesced in them. When John 
Brown, therefore, who in December, 1787, had been sent as 
the first Western representative to Congress, brought the sub- 
ject of admitting Kentucky as a Federal State before that 
body upon the 29th February,! i^ ^^^^ hoped the matter 
would soon be disposed of. But such was not the case ; from 

•Bee American State Papers, xx. p. 70". — Clark's Memoir is said by Wilkinson to hn 
Bubstantially correct. (Msmoirs, ii. 110.) 
t Old Journals, iv. 811, 819, 828, 829, 830. 



1788. Offers of Spain to Kentucky. 335 

February to May, from May to June, from June to July, the 
admission of the District was debated, and at length the 
whole subject, on the 3d of July, was referred to the new gov- 
ernment about to be organized, and once more the Pioneers 
found themselves thwarted, and self-direction withheld. 

On the 28th of July the sixth Convention met at Danville, 
to proceed with the business of making a Constitution, when 
news reached them* that their coming together was all to no 
purpose, as the Legislature of the Union had not given the 
necessary sanction to the act of Virginia. This news amazed 
and shocked them, and being accompanied or followed by in- 
timations from Mr. Brown that Spain would make easy terms 
with the West, were the West once her own mistress, we 
surely cannot wonder that the leaders of the "Independence" 
party were disposed to act with decision and show a spirit of 
self-reliance. Wilkinson, on the one hand, could speak of 
his vast profits and the friendly temper of the south-western 
rulers, while Brown wrote home such sentiments as these : — 

" The eastern States would not, nor do I think they ever 
will assent to the admission of the district in the Union, as an 
independent State, unless Vermont, or the province of Maine, 
is brought forward at the same time. The change which has 
taken place in the general government is made the ostensible 
objection to the measure; but, the jealousy of the growing im- 
portance of the western country, and an unwillingness to add 
a vote to the southern interest, are the real causes of opposi- 
tion. The question which the district will now have to de- 
termine upon, will be — whether, or not, it will be more expe- 
dient to continue the connexion with the State of Virginia, 
or to declare their independence and proceed to frame a con- 
stitution of government? 

In private conferences which I have had with Mr. Gardo- 
qui, the Spanish minister, at this place, I have been assured 
by him in the most explicit terajs, that if Kentucky will de- 

*The difficulty of communicatiog-news to the West may be judged of by the following 
extract from a letter by John Brown to Judge Muter. 

"An answer to your favor of the 16th of March was, together with several other letters, 
put into the hands of one of General Harmar's oCfieers, who set out in May last for the 
Ohio, and who promised to forward them to the district; but I fear they have miscarried, 
as I was a few dajs ago informed that his orders had been countermanded, and that he 
had been sent to the garrison at West Point. Indeed I have found it almost impracticable 
to transmit a letter to Kentucky, as there is scarce any communication between this place 
and that countiy. A post is now established from this place to Fort Pitt, to set ou^Kce 
in two weeks, after the 20th instant; this will render the communication ea'y ancPRir- 
tain." — (Marshall, i. 204.) 



336 A Seventh Convention Called. 1788. 

clarc her independence, and empower some proper person to 
negotiate with him, that he has authority, and will engage to 
open the navigation of" the Mississippi, for the exportation of 
their produce, on terms of mutual advantage. But that this 
privilege never can be extended to them while part of the 
United States, by reason of commercial treaties existing be- 
tween that court and other powers of Europe. 

As there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of this declara- 
tion, I have thought proper to communicate it to a few confi- 
dential friends in the district, with his permission, not doubting 
but that they will make a prudent use of the information — 
which is in part confirmed by despatches yesterday received 
by Congress, from Mr. Carmichal, our minister at that court, 
the contents of which I am not at liberty to disclose.* 

But even under the excitement produced by such prospects 
ofierc'd from abroad, and such treatment at the hands of their 
fellow-citizens, the members of the July Convention took no 
hasty or mischievous steps. Finding their own powers legally 
at an end in consequence of the course pursued by Congress, 
they determined to adjourn, and in doing so advised the call- 
ing of a seventh Convention, to meet in the following Novem- 
ber, and continue in existence until January, 1790, with full 
power 

To take such measures for obtaining admission of the dis- 
trict, as a separate and independent member of the United 
States of America, and the navigation of the Mississippi, as 
may appear most conducive to those important purposes: and 
also to form a constitution of government for the district, 
and organize the same when they shall judge it necessary ; or 
to do and accomplish whatsoever, on a consideration of the 
state of the district, may in their opinion promote its interests.f 

These terms, although they contain nothing necessarily im- 
plying a separation from Virginia against her wish, or direct- 
ly authorizing the coming Convention to treat with Spain, 
were still supposed Jo have been used for the purpose of ena- 
bling or even inviting that body to take any steps, however 
much against the letter of the law ; and as Mr. Brown's let- 
ters showed that strong temptations were held out to the peo- 
ple of the District to declare themselves independent and then 
enter into negotiations with Spain, George Muter, Chief Jus- 
tice of the District, on the loth of October, published a letter 
in the Kentucky Gazette, calling attention to the fact that a 

•See Sliu-shaU's History of Kentucky, i. p. 305. 
tSeo Marshall's History of Kentucky, i. p. 200. 



1788. , Connolly in Kentucky. 337 

separafion without legal leave from the parent State, would 
be treason against that State, and a violation of the Federal 
Constitution then just formed. 

This letter, and the efforts of the party who favored strict 
adherence to legal proceedings, were not in vain. The elec- 
tions took place, and on the 4th of November the Convention 
met; the contest at once began, but the two parties being 
happily balanced, both in and out of the Convention, the 
greatest caution was observed by both, and all excess prevent- 
ed. An address to the people of the District was proposed 
by Wilkinson, the purpose of which was, doubtless, to procure 
instructions as to the contested points of illegal independence 
and negotiation with Spain; — but the plan of issuing such a 
paper was afterwards dropped. Congress was memorialized 
respecting the Mississippi, Virginia was again asked for an 
act of separation, and the Convention quietly adjourned until 
the 1st Monday of the following August.* It is not improba- 
ble that one tranquilizing influence was, the contradiction by 
members of Congress, of the report that the navigation of 
the Mississippi was to be relinquished by the United States. 
This contradiction had been authorized on the 16th of Sep- 
tember. f It was during the autumn of this same year of 
trouble and intrigue, that there appeared again in Kentucky, 
John Connolly, formerly of Pittsburgh, of w^hom we last heard 
as organizing an expedition to attack the frontiers in 1781. Of 
his purposes and movements nothing of consequence can be 
added, we believe, to the following statement sent by Colonel 
Thomas Marshall, to General Washington, in the month of 
February, 1789. 

About this time, (November, 1788,) arrived from Canada 
the famous Doctor (now Colonel) Connolly ; his ostensible 
business was to enquire after, and repossess himself of, some 
lands he formerly held at the Falls of theJPhio ; but I believe 
his real business was to sound the disposition of the leading 
men of this district respecting this Spanish business. He knew 
that both Colonel Muter and myself had given it all the op- 
position in Convention we were able to do, and before he left 
the district paid us a visit, though neither of us had the honor 
of the least acquaintance with him. 

He w^as introduced by Colonel John Campbell, his old co- 

^See Marshall, i. 288 to .341.— Marshall gives all the iJapors.— Butler lfi2 to 181—517 to 
623.— Carey's Museum, April 1789, p. 331 to 333. 
t Secret Journals, iv. 449 to 454. 



33S Connolly in Kentucky. 1788 

purchaser of the land at the Falls, formerly a prisoner taken 
by the Indians, and confined in Canada, who previously in- 
formed us of the proposition he was about to make. He 
(Connolly) presently entered upon his subject, urged the great 
importance the navigation of the Mississippi must be to the 
inhabitants of the western waters, showed the absolute neces- 
sity of our possessing it, and concluded with assurances that 
were we disposed to assert our right respecting that naviga- 
tion, Lord Dorchester, (formerly Sir Guy Carlton,) was cor- 
diall}' disposed to give us powerful assistance, that his Lord- 
ship had (I think he said) four thousand British troops in 
Canada, besides two regiments at Detroit, and could furnish us 
with arms, ammunition, clothing, and money ; that, with this 
assistance, we might possess ourselves of New Orleans, fortify 
the IJalize at the mouth of the river, and keep possession in 
spite of the utmost efforts of Spain to the contrary. He made 
very confident professions of Lord Dorchester's wishes to cul- 
tivate the most friendly intercoiu'se with the people of this 
country, and of his own desire to become serviceable to us, 
and with so much seeming sincerity, that had I not before 
been acquainted with his character as a man of intrigue and 
artful address, I should in all probability have given him my 
confidence. 

I told him that the minds of the people of this country were 
so strongly prejudiced against the British, not only from cir- 
cumstances attending the late war, but from a persuasion that 
the Indians were at this time stimulated by them against us, 
and that so long as those savages continued to commit such 
horrid cruelties on our defenceless frontiers, and were received 
as friends and allies by the British at Detroit, it would be im- 
possible for them to be convinced of the sincerity of Lord 
Dorchester's ofiers, let his professions be ever so strong ; and 
that, a his Lordship would have us believe him really dis- 
posed to be our friend, he must begin by showing his disap- 
probation of the ravages of the Indians. 

He admitted the justice of my observation, and said he 
had urged the same to his Lordship before he left Canada. 
He denied that the Indians are stimulated against us by the 
British, and says. Lord Dorchester observed, that the Indians 
are free and independent nations, and have a right to make 
peace or war as they think fit, and that he could not with 
proprietj' interfere. He promised, however, on his return to 
Canada to repeat his arguments to his Lor-lship on the sub- 
ject, and hopes, he says, to succeed. At taking his leave he 
begged very politely tlie favor of our correspondence ; we 
both promised him, providing he would begin it, and devise a 
means of carrying it on. He did not tell me that he was au- 
thorized by Lord Dorchester to make us these ofiers in his 
name, nor did I ask him ; but General Scott informs me that 



1788. Connolly in Kentucky. 339 

he told him that his Lordship had authorized him to use his 
name in this business.* 

Colonel George. Morgan, during this year, was induced to 
remove for a time to the Spanish territories west of the Mis- 
sissippi, and remained at New Madrid between one and two 
months ; thence he went to New Orleans.f 

[The projected city and settlement of New Madrid by Col. 
Morgan, may be found in the Appendix, Annals of Mis- 
souri.] 

Preparations, as we have stated, had been made early in 1788, 
for a treaty with the Indians, and during the whole autumn, the 
representatives of the Indian tribes were lingering about the 
Muskingum settlement : but it was not till Jan. 9th of this year, 
that the natives were brought to agree to distinct terms. On 
that day, one treaty was made with the Iroquois,^ confirming 
the previous one of October, 1784, at Fort Stanwix ; and 
another with the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, 
Pottawatamies and Sacs, confirming and extending the treaty 
of Fort Mcintosh, made in January, 1785.§ Of the additions 
we quote the following : 

AiRT. 4. It is agreed between the United States and the said 
nations, that the individuals of said nations shall be at liberty 
to hunt within the territory ceded to the United States, with- 
out hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean them- 
selves peaceably, and offer no injury or annoyance to any of 
the subjects or citizens of the said United States. 

Art. 7. Trade shall be opened with the said nations, and 
they do hereby respectively engage to afford protection to the 
persons and property of such as may be duly licensed to re- 
side among them for the purpose of trade, and to their 
agents, factors, and servants ; but no person shall be permit- 
ted to reside at their towns, or at their hunting camps, as a 
trader, who is not furnished with a license for that purpose, 
under the hand and seal of the Governor of the territory of 
the United States northwest of the Ohio, for the time being, 
or under the hand and seal of one of his deputies for the 
management of Indian Affairs; to the end that they may not 
be imposed upon in their traffic. And if any person or per- 
sons shall intrude themselves without such license, they prom- 

* See Butler, 520. 

f American State Papers, xx. 504. 

X Collection of Indian treaties. Land Laws, 1 23. 

2 Land Laws, 149.— See also Carey's Museum for April, 1789, p. 415. 



340 Treaties of Fort Harmar. 1789 

ise to apprehend him or them, and to bring them to the said 
Governor, or one of his deputies, for the purpose beforemen- 
tioncd, to be dealt with according to law; and that they may 
be defended against persons who might attempt to forge such 
licenses, they further engage to give information to the said 
Governor, or one of his deputies, of the names of all traders 
residing among them, from lime to time, and at least once every 
year. 

Art. 8. Should any nation of Indians meditate a war against 
the United States, or either of them, and the same shall come 
to the knowledge of the beforementioned nations, or either of 
them, they do hereby engage to give immediate notice thereof 
to the Governor, or, in his absence, to the officer commanding 
the troops of the United States at the nearest post. And 
should any nation, with hostile intentions against the United 
States, or either of them, attempt to pass through their coun- 
try, they will endeavor to prevent the same, and, in like man- 
ner, give information of such attempt to the said Governor or 
commanding officer, as soon as possible, that all causes of 
mistrust and suspicion may be avoided between them and the 
United States : in like manner, the United States shall give 
notice to the said Indian nations, of any harm that may be 
meditated against them, or either of them, that shall come to 
their knowledge ; and do all in their power to hinder and pre- 
vent the same, that the friendship between them may be 
uninterrupted.* 

But these treaties, if meant in good faith by those who made 
them, were not respected, and the year of which we now 
write, saw renewed the old frontier troubles in all their bar- 
barism and variet)^ The Wabash Indians especially, who had 
not been bound by any treaty as yet, kept up constant incursions 
against the Kentucky settlers, and the emigrants down the 
Ohio.f and the Kentuckians retaliated, striking foes and 
fi-iends, even "the peaceable Piankeshaws who prided them- 
selves on their attachment to the United States. "'J Nor could 
the President take any elFectual steps to put an end to this 
constant partisan warfare. In the first place, it was by no 
means clear that an attack by the forces of the government 
upon the Wabash tribes, could be justified. Says Wash- 
ington : 

I would have it observed forcibly, that a war with the Wa- 
bash Indians ought to be avoided by all means consistently 

*See Land Laws, p. 152. 

t Marshall, i, :J4S, 354.— American State Papers, vol. v. 84, 85.— Carey's Museum, 
April 17S0, p. 416, and May, pp. 504, 603. 
X den. Knox. American State Papers, v. 13. 



1789. Troubles with the Indians. 341 

with the security of the frontier inhabitants, the security of the 
troops, and the national dignity. In the exercise of the 
present indiscriminate hostilities, it is extremely difficult, if 
not impossible, to say that a war without further measures 
would be just on the part of the United States. But, if, after 
manifesting clearly to the Indians the disposition of the Gene- 
ral Government for the preserv^ation of peace, and the exten- 
sion of a just protection to the said Indians, they should con- 
tinue their incursions, the United States will be constrained to 
punish them with severity.* 

But how to punish them was a difficult question, again, 
even supposing punishment necessary. Says Gen. Knox : 

By the best and latest information it appears that, on the 
Wabash and its communications, there are from fifteen hun- 
dred to two thousand warriors. An expedition against them, 
with a view of extirpating them, or destroying their towns, 
could not be undertaken with a probability of success, with 
less than an army of two thousand five hundred men. The 
regular troops of the United States on the frontiers, are less 
than six hundred: of that number, not more than four hundred 
could be collected from the posts for the purpose of the expe- 
dition. To raise, pay, feed, arm, and equip one thousand nine 
hundred additional men, with the necessary officers, for six 
months, and to provide every thing in the hospital and quarter- 
master's line, would require the sum of two hundred thousand 
dollars, a sum far exceeding the ability of the United States 
to advance, consistently with a due regard to other indispen- 
sable objects. 

Such, however, were the representations of the Governor 
of the new territory, and of the people of Kentucky, that 
Congress, upon the 29th of September, empowered the Presi- 
dent to call out the militia to protect the frontiers, and he, on 
the 6th of October, authorized Governor St. Clair to draw 
1500 men from the western counties of Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania, if absolutely necessary ; ordering him, however, to 
ascertain, if possible, the real disposition of the Wabash 
and Illinois Indians. f In order to do this, speeches to them 
were prepared, and messengers sent among them, of whose 
observations we shall have occasion to take notice under the 
year 1790. 

Kentucky, especially, felt aggrieved this year by the with- 
drawal of the Virginia scouts and rangers, who had hitherto 

* American State Papers, v. 13, 97, pp. 84 to 93. 
■j- American State Papers, 97, 101, 102. 



342 Muskingum Settlements Spread. 1789. 

helped to protect her. This was done in July, by the Govern- 
or, in consequence of a letter from the federal executive, 
stating that national troops would thenceforward be stationed 
upon the western streams. The Governor communicated this 
letter to the Kentucky convention held in Jul}', and that body 
at once authorized a remonstrance against the measure, repre- 
senting the inadequacy of the federal troops, few and scattered 
as they were, to protect the country, and stating the amount 
of injury received from the savages since the first of May.* 

[We have the authority of Judge Innis, of Kentucky (Amer. 
State Papers, v. p. 88,) that in seven years, 1500 persons, 20,- 
000 horses, and £15,000 worth of property had been destroy- 
ed or taken away from that district, by the savages.] 

Nor was the old separation sore healed yet. Upon the 29th 
of December, 1788, Virginia had passed her third act to make 
Kentucky independent ; but as this law made the District lia- 
ble for a part of the State debt, and also reserved a certain 
control over the lands set apart as army bounties, to the Old 
Dominion, — it was by no means popular ; and when, upon 
the 20th of July, the eighth Convention came together at Dan- 
ville, it was only to resolve upon a memorial requesting that 
the obnoxious clauses of the late, law might be repealed. 
This, in December, was agreed to by the present State, but 
new proceedings throughout were at the same time ordered, 
and a ninth Convention directed to meet in the following 

July.t 

North of the Ohio, during this year, there was less trouble 
from the Indians than south of it, especially in the Muskingum 
country. There all prospered : the Rev. Dan'l. Story, under a 
resolution of the Directors of the Ohio Company, passed in 
March, 1788, in the spring of this year came westward as a 
teacher of youth and a preacher of the Gospel.§ By November, 
nine associations, comprising two hundred and fifty persons, 
had been formed for the purpose of settling difl'crent points 
within the purchase ; and by the close of 1790, eight settlements 
had been made ; two at Belpre, (belle prairie,) one at New- 
bury, one at Wolf Creek,|| one at Duck Creek, one at the 

* Murshnll, i. 352. — American State Papers, v. 84, Ac. 

t.Ibid, 312, 350.— Butler, 187. . 

% American Pioneer, i. 86. 

li Here wa^ built the first mill in Oaio. (American Pioneer, ii. 99, and plat«.) 



1789. Fort Washington Founded. 343 

mouth of Meigs' Creek, one at Anderson's Bottom, and one at 
Big Bottom.* 

Between the Miamies, there was more alarm at this period, 
but no great amount of actual danger. Upon the 15th of 
June, news reached Judge Symmes that the^Vabash Indians 
threatened his settlements, and as yet he had received no 
troops for their defence, except nineteen froqi the Falls. f 
Before July, however, Major Doughty arrived at the "Slaugh- 
ter House," and commenced the building of Fort Washington 
on the site of Losantiville. In relation to the choice of that 
spot, rather than the one where Symmes proposed to found 
his great city, Judge Burnet tells the following story: 

" Through the influence of the Judge (Symmes,) the de- 
tachment sent by General Harmar, to erect a fort between 
the Miami rivers, for the protection of the settlers, landed at 
North Bend. This circumstance induced many of the first 
emigrants to repair to that place, on account of the expected 
protection, which the garrison would afford. While the offi- 
cer commanding the detachment was examining the neigh- 
borhood, to select the most eligible spot for a garrison, he 
became enamored with a beautiful black-eyed female, who 
happened to be a married woman. The vigilant husband saw 
his danger, and immediately determined to remove, with his 
family, to Cincinnati, where he supposed they would be safe 
from intrusion. As soon as the gallant officer discovered 
that the object of his admiration had been removed bej'ond 
his reach, he began to think that the Bend was not an advan- 
tageous situation for a military work. This opinion he com- 
municated to Judge Symmes, who contended, very strenu- 
ously, that it was the most suitable spot in the Miami country; 
and protested against the removal. The arguments of the 
judge, however, were not as influential as the sparkling eyes 
of the fair feznale, who was then at Cincinnati. To preserve 
the appearance of consistency, the officer agreed, that he 
would defer a decision till he had explored the ground, at and 
near Cincinnati ; and that, if he found it to be less eligible 
than the Bend, he would return and erect the garrison at the 
latter place. The visit was quickly made, and resulted in a 
conviction, that the Bend was not to be compared with Cin- 
cinnati. The troops were accordingly removed to that place, 
and the building of»Fort Washington was commenced. This 
movement, apparently trivial in itself, and certainly produced 
by a whimsical cause, was attended by results of incalculable 
importance. It settled the question at once whether Symmes 

»IIaiTiiTour, 191. 192. 

tSymaics' Letters in Cist'3 Cincianati, 231, 229, 219. 



344 Reason for placing the Fort at Cincinnati. 1789. 

or Cincinnati was to be the great commercial town on the 
Miami purchase. This anecdote was communicated by 
Judge Symmes, and is unquestionably authentic. As soon as 
the troops removed to Cincinnati, and established the garrison, 
the settlers at the Bend, then more numerous than those at 
Cincinnati, begafl to remove; and in two or three years, the 
Bend was literally deserted, and the idea of establishing a 
town at that point was entirely abandoned. 

Thus, we see, what great results are sometimes produced 
by trivial circumstances. The beauty of a female, transferred 
the commercial emporium of Ohio from the place where it 
was commenced, to the place where it now is. Had the black- 
eyed beauty remained at the Bend, the garrison would have 
been erected there, population, capital, and business would 
have centered there, and our city must have been now of 
comparatively small importance.*" 

We suspect the influence of this bright-eyed beauty upon 
the fate of Cincinnati, is over estimated, however. Upon the 
14th of June, before Fort Washington was commenced, and 
when the only soldiers in the purchase were at North Bend, 
Symmes writes to Dayton : 

" It is expected, that on the arrival of Governor St. Clair, 
this purchase will be organized into a county ; it is therefore 
of some moment which town shall be made the county town. 
Losantiville, at present, bids the fairest ; it is a most excellent 
site for a large town, and is at present the most central of any 
of the inhabited towns ; but if South Bend might be finished 
and occupied, that would be exactly in the centre, and proba- 
bly would take the lead of the present villages until the city 
can be made somewhat considerable. This is really a matter 
of importance to the proprietors, but can only be achieved by 
their exertions and encouragement. The lands back of South 
Bend are not very much broken, after you ascend the first 
hill, and will afford rich supplies for a county town. A few 
troops stationed at South Bend will eflect the settlement of 
this new village in a very short time.-f" 

The truth is, that neither the proposed city on the Miami, 
North Bend or South Bend, could compete, in point of natu- 
ral advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati has since 
arisen ; and had Fort Washington been built elsewhere, after 
the close of the Indian war, nature woulcJ have ensured the 
rapid growth of that point where even the ancient and mys- 
terious dwellers along the Ohio had reared the earthen walls 
of one of their vastest temples.J 

*Trnn9actions Historical Society, Ohio, p. 17. fCist's Cincinnati, p. 230. 

JSee Transactions of Ohio Historical Society, part ii. vol. i. 35.— Drake's Picture of 
Cincinnati, 202. 



17S9. Contest with the Spaniards. 345 

We have referred to Wilkinson's voyage to New Or- 
leans, in 1787; in January of this year, (1789,) he fitted 
out twenty-five large boats, some of them carrying three 
pounders, and all of them swivels, manned by 150 men, and 
loaded with tobacco, flour, and provisions, with which he set 
sail for the south ; and his lead was soon followed by others.* 
Among the adventurers was Colonel Armstrong of the Cum- 
berland settlements, who sent down six boats manned by 
thirty men; these were stopped at Natchez, and the goods 
being there sold without permission, an officer and fifty soldiers 
were sent by the Spanish commander to arrest the transgres- 
sors. They, meanwhile, had returned within the lines of the 
United States and refused to be arrested ; this led to a con- 
test, in which, as a cotemporary letter states, five Spaniards 
were killed and twelve wounded.f 

"•■■■Letter in Carey's Museum for February, 1789, pp. 209, 313. — Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 
113. 

jCarey's Museum, April, 17S9, p. 417. 

22 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE INDIAN WAR OF 1790—1795. 

Organization of the North-western Territory — Sketch of Governor St. Clair — The Ex- 
cursion to the Illinois Country — Claims of the United States on Indian Lands — DiflScul- 
ties with the Indians — Gamelin's Mission — Agency of Britiih Officers and Traders — 
Ilarmar's Campaign — Expedition of General Charles Scott — Campaign of St. Clair — 
Disastrous Defeat. 

[The ordinance of Congres.s, as already shown, passed in 
August, 1787, but the government was not organized until 
the following year. In the month of July, General Arthur 
St. Clair, who had been appointed Governor by the Old Con- 
gress, appeared at Marietta, and put the machinery of the 
new government in motion. This was on the 15th of July, 
1788, when the governor, who had arrived on the 9th, pub- 
lished the ordinance of Congress for the government of the 
Territory, and the commissions of the officers.* The organ- 
ization was what has been called, the first grade ; consisting 
of a Governor, Secretary, and three Judges, who, conjointly, 
constituted the law-making power. 

Winthrop Sargent, one of the Ohio immigrants of the pre- 
ceding year, was appointed Secretary, and Samuel H. Par- 
sons, James M. Varnum and John Armstrong, Judges. The 
latter not accepting the office, John Cleves Symmes was ap- 
pointed in his stead. On the 26th of July, by proclamation 
of the governor, the county of Washington was organized. 
This was the first organized county in the North-western Ter- 
ritory. It contained within its limits about one- half of the 
present State of Ohio. 

In September the Governor and Judges prepared and adopt- 
ed a code of laws, which have been perpetuated, with few 
alterations, in all the North-western States. 

As the executive authority of Governor St. Clair extended 
over the vast territory out of which five states had been 
organized, a brief sketcli of his life will be read with interest. 

lie was a native of Scotland, from which country he came 
to the British Colonies of North America in 1755; having 

* Atwater's History of Ohio, p. 129 ; — Dillon's Indiana, 232. 



1788. Sketch of Governor St. Clair. 347 

joined the Royal American or 60th British regiment, and 
served under General Amherst at the taking of Louisburg, in 
1758, He carried a standard at the storming and capture of 
Quebec, under General Wolfe, in 1759. 

Soon after the peace of 1763, he settled in Ligonier valley, 
in Western Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside until 
the revolutionary war. Being a firm friend of liberty and the 
rights of the colonies, he received from Congress the commis- 
sion of Colonel, and joined the American army with a regi- 
ment of seven hundred and fifty men. Having been promot- 
ed to the rank of Major-General, he was tried by a court 
martial, in 1778, for evacuating Ticonderoga and Mount In- 
dependence, and unanimously acquitted v/ith the highest 
honors.* The late General James Wilkinson, who was a Ma- 
jor under St, Clair, at the time, states in the " Memoir of his 
own Times," that the General said to him, " I know I can 
save my character by sacrificing the arm)> but were I to do 
so, I should forfeit that which the world cannot restore, and 
which the world cannot take away — my own conscience."! 

He continued in the service with honor until peace. He 
was rigid, some thought arbitrary, in his government, and, 
therefore unpopular, but he was scrupulously honest — had no 
talent for speculation, and died poor. In a letter to the Hon. 
W. B. Giles, of Virginia, he wrote as follows : 

In the year 1786, I entered into the public service in civil 
life, and was a member of Congress, and President of that 
body, when it was determined to erect a government in the 
country to the west, that had been ceded by Virginia to the 
United States; and in the year 1788, the office of Governor 
was in a great measure forced on me. The losses I had sus- 
tained in the revolutionary war, from the depreciation of the 
money and other causes, had been very great; and my friends 
saw in this new government means that might be in my power 
to compensate myself,, and to provide handsomely for my 
numerous family. They did not know how little I was quali- 
fied to avail myself of those advantages, if they had existed. 
I had neither taste nor genius for speculation in land, neither 
did I think it very consistent with tlie office. J 

On entering upon the responsible office of Governor of 
this new Territory, instructions were received by him. from 
Congress. He was authorized and required : 

* Dillon's Indiana, 231. 

•f Wilkinson's Memoirs, i. 85. 

X Dillon's Indiana, 231. 



348 Instructions to Governor St. Clair. 17S8. 

1. To examine carefully into the real temper of the Indians. 

2. To remove, if possible, all causes of controversy \\\\\\ 
them, so that peace and harmony might exist between them 
and the United States. 

3. To regulate the trade with them. 

4. To use his best efforts to extinguish the rights of the In- 
dians to lands westward to the Mississippi, and northward to 
the forty-first degree of latitude. 

5. To ascertain, as far as possible, the names of the real 
head men and leading warriors of each tribe, and to attach 
these men to the United States. 

6. To defeat all combinations among the tribes by concilia- 
tory means.* 

About the first of January, 1790, the Governor and Judges, 
with Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary, proceeded down the 
river from Marietta to Fort Washington, (now Cincinnati,) 
and the Governor laid ofi' the county of Hamilton, and ap- 
pointed magistrates and other civil oflicersfor the administra- 
tion of justice. At this time Losantiville received the name 
of Cincinnati. On the 5th of January, a law was enacted by 
the Governor and Judges, requiring courts to be held four 
times in a year. 

The Governor and Secretary continued down the river, and 
on the 8lh of January, they were at Clarksville, near the foot of 
the Falls, where magistrates were appointed for that portion of 
the North-western Territory, now included within the State of 
Indiana. From this point, the Governor and Secretary pro- 
ceeded by land to Vincennes. Here Major Hamtramck was in 
command. At that period corn was very scarce, and the peo- 
ple were sufiering, and the Governor prolfcred to have corn 
transported from the Falls, where it was plenty and cheap, 
provided the citizens could pay for it. And although he had 
no authority fiom the government, he oflbrcd to provide for 
the starving who had not means to pay, and trust to the 
liberality of Congress. f Such was also the condition of the 
inhabitants in the Illinois country. 

Governor St. Clair and the Secretary reached Kaskaskia in 
February, and soon after organized the county of St. Clair, 

* Dillon's Indiana, i. 232. 
t Dillon's Indiana, i. 242. 



1790. County of St. Clair Organized. 349 

appointed magistrates and other civil officers, and directed the 
citizens to exhibit to him their titles and claims to the lands 
which they held, that they might be confirmed in their 
possessions. 

As many of the events of Illinois will appear more in de- 
tail, in the Appendix, we pass to the annals of the Indian 
wars of this period. 

The most important and interesting events connected with 
the West, from the commencement of 1790 to the close of 
1795, were those growing out of these wars. In order to 
present them in one unbroken and intelligible story, we shall 
abandon for a time our division by single years, and relate the 
events of the six referred to as composing one period. But to 
render the events of that period distinct, we must recall to 
oar readers some matters that happened long before. 

And in the first place, we would remind them that the 
French made no large purchases from the western Indians ; so 
that the treaty of Paris, in 1763, transferred to England only 
small grants about the various forts, Detroit, Vincennes, Kas- 
kaskia, &c. Then followed Pontiac's war and defeat ; and 
then the grant by the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix, in 1768, of 
the land south of the Ohio ; and even this grant, it will be re- 
membered, was not respected by those who actually hunted 
on the grounds transferred. Next came the war of 1774, Dun- 
more's war, which terminated v/ithout any transfer of the 
Indian possessions to the whites; and when, at the close of 
the Revolution, in 1783, Britain made over her western claims 
to the United States, she made over nothing more than she 
had received from France, save the title of the Six Nations and 
the southern savages to a portion of the territory south of the 
Ohio : as against the Miamies, western Delawares, Shawa- 
nese, Wyandots or Hurons, and the tribes still farther north 
and west, she transferred nothing. [Mr. Perkins has over- 
looked the cession by the Iroquois to Great Britain, of a large 
portion of the North- Western Territory in 1701, which they 
claimed by right of conquest.] But this, apparently, was 
not the view taken by the Congress of the time ; and they, 
conceiving that they had, under the treaty with England, a 
full right to all the lands thereby ceded, and regarding the In- 
dian title as forfeited by the hostilities of the Revolution, pro- 
ceeded, not to buy the lands of the savages, but to grant them 



350 Mode of acquiring Indian lands. 1790-95. 

peace, and dictate their own terms as to boundaries.* In 
October, 1784, the United States acquired in this way what- 
ever title the Iroquois possessed to the western country, both 
north and south of the Ohio, by the second treaty of Fort 
Stanwix ; a treaty openly and fairly made, but one, the va- 
lidity of which, many of the Iroquois alwa)-s disputed. The 
ground of their objection appears to have been, that the treaty 
was with a part only of the Indian nations, whereas the wish 
of the natives was, that every act of the States with them, 
should be as with a confederacy, embracing all the tribes bor- 
dering upon the great lakes. Our readers may remember that 
the instructions given the Indian Commissioners in October, 
1783, provided for one convention with all the tribes ; and 
that this provision was changed in the following March for 
one, by which as many separate conventions were to be had, 
if possible, as there were separate tribes. In pursuance of 
this last plan, the Commissioners, in October, 1784, refused to 
listen to the proposal which is said then to have been made 
for one general congress of the northern tribes, and in oppo- 
sition to Brant, Red Jacket and other influential chiefs of the 
Iroquois, concluded the treaty of Fort Stanwix. Then came 
the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, in January, 1785, with the " Wy- 
andot, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa nations " — open to 
the objections above recited, but the validity of which, so far 
as we know, was never disputed, at least by the Wyandots 
and Delawares ; although the general council of north-west- 
ern Indians, representing sixteen tribes, asserted in 1793, that 
the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Fort Mcintosh and Fort Finney, 
(mouth of the Great Miami,) were not only held with separate 
tribes, but were obtained by intimidation, the red-men having 
been asked to make treaties of peace, and forced to make 
cessions of territory. The third treaty made by the United 
States was with the Shawanese at Fort Finney, in January, 
1786 ; which, it will be remembered, the Wabash tribes re- 
fused to attend. The fourth and fifth, which were acts of con- 
firmation, were made at Fort Ilarmar, in 1789, one with the 
Six Nations, and the other with the Wyandots and their asso- 

* See in proof, the Report to Congress of October 15, 17S3, (Old Journals, ir. 294;) the 
instructions to the Indian Commissioners, October 15th, 17S3, (Secret Journals, i. 25";) the 
various treaties of 178-1, '35, and "36 (ante); General Knox's Reiwrt of June 15, 1789, 
(American State Papers, v. 13); and the distinct acknowledgment of the commifsioners in 
1793, (Americau State Papers, v. 353.) 



1790-95. Treaty of Fort Harmar. 351 

ciatcs, namel}', the Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pota- 
watamies, and Sacs. This last, fifth treaty, the confederated 
nations of the lake especially, refused to acknowledge as 
binding : their council using in relation to it, in 1793, these 
words : 

Brothers : A general council of all the Indian confederacy \ 
was held, as you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at ( 
this place ; and that general council was invited by your com- 
missioner, Governor St. Clair, to meet him for the purpose of 
holding a treaty, with regard to the lands mentioned by you 
to have been ceded by the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort 
Mcintosh. 

Brothers : We are in possession of the speeches and letters 
which passed on that occasion, between those deputed by the 
confederate Indians, and Governor St. Clair, the commissioner 
of the United States. These papers prove that your said 
commissioner, in the beginning of the year 1789, after having 
been informed by the general council, of the preceding fall, 
that no bargain or sale of any part of these Indian landsi, 
would be considered as valid or binding, unless agreed to by ^ 
a general council, nevertheless persisted in collecting together ' 
a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and with them held 
a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in which they i 
were no more interested, than as a branch of the general con- ' 
federacy, and wdio were in no manner authorized to make any 
grant or cession whatever. 

Brothers: How then was it possible for you to expect to en- 
joy peace, and quietly to hold these lands, when your com- 
missioner was informed, long before he held the treaty of Fort | 
Harmar, that the consent of a general council was absolutely 
necessary to convey any part of these lands to the United 
States.* 

And in 1795, at Greenville, Massas, a Chippewa chieftain, 
who signed the treaty at Fort Harmar, said : 

Elder Brother : When you yesterday read to us the treaty 
of Muskingum, I understood you clearly : at that treaty we 
had not good interpreters, and we were left partly unac- 
quainted with many particulars of it. I was surprised when 
1 heard your voice, through a good interpreter, say that we 
had received presents and compensation for those lands which ? 
were thereby ceded. I tell you, now, that we, the three fires, ( 
never w-ere informed of it. If our uncles, the Wyandots, and 
grandfathers, the Delawares, have received such presents, they 
have kept them to themselves. I always thought that we, > 
the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Potawatamies, were the true 

■' American State Papers, v. p. 356, 357. 



352 Indian relations in 1789. 1789. 

owners of those lands, but now I find that new masters have 
undertaken to dispose of them ; so that, at this day, we do 
not know to whom they, of right, belong. We never received 
any compensation for them. I don't know how it is, but ever 
since that treaty we have become objects of pity, and our 
fires have been retiring from this country. Now, elder brother, 
you see, we are objects of compassion ; and have pity on our 
weakness and misfortunes; and, since you have purchased 
these lands, we cede them to you : they are yours. 

The Wyandots, however, acknowledged even the transfer 
made on the Muskingum, to be binding : " Brother," said 
Tarke, who signed foremost among the representatives of that 
tribe at Greenville, and who had also signed at FortHarmar — 

You have proposed to us to build our good work on the 
treaty of Muskingum : that treaty I have always considered 
as formed upon the fairest principles. You took pity on us 
Indians. You did not do as our fathers the British agreed 
you should. You might by that agreement have taken all our 
lands; but you pitied us, and let us hold part. I always 
looked upon that treaty to be binding upon the United States 
and us Indians.* 

The truth in reference to this treaty of Fort Harmar seems 
to have been, that the confederated nation, as a whole, did 
not sanction it, and in their council of 1778 could not agree 
one with another in relation to it. " I have still my doubts," 
says Brant, before the council met — 

I have still my doubts whether we will join or not, some 
being no ways inclined for peaceable methods. The Hurons, 
Chippewas, Ottawas, Potawatomies, and Delawares, will join 
with us in trying lenient steps, and having a boundar}'^ line 
fixed ; and, rather than enter headlong into a destructive war, 
Avill give up a small part of their country. On the other hand, 
the Shawanese, Miamies and Kickapoos, who are now so much 
addicted to horse-stealing, that it will be a difficult task to 
break them of it, as that kind of business is their best harvest, 
will of course declare for war, and not giving up any of their 
country, which, I am afraid, will be the means of our sepa- 
Ffiting. They are, I believe, determined not to attend the 
/ ^tr§ aty with the Americans. Still I hope for the best. As the 
major part of the nations are of our opinions, the rest maybe 
brought to, as nothing shall be wanting on my part to con- 
vince them of their error.j 

♦American State Papers, v. p. 570, 571. 
t Stone, ii. 278. 



1790-95. Grounds of United Slates claims. 353 

Le Gris, the great chief of the Miamies, in April, 1799, said to '"^ 
Gamelin, that the Muskingum treaty was not made by chiefs 
or delegates,* but by young men acting without authority, 
although Tarke, the head of the Wyandots, signed and sanc- 
tioned it, as well as Captain Pipe of the Delawares, while 
Brant himself was present. f 

Thus then stood the relations of the Indians and the United 
States in 1789. Transfers of territory had been made by the 
Iroquois, the Wyandots, the Delawares and the Shawanese, 
which were open to scarce any objection ; but the Chippewas, 
Ottawas, Kickapoos, Weas, Piankeshaws, Potawatomies, Eel 
River Indians, Kaskaskias, and above all the Miamies, were 
not bound by any existing agreement to yield the lands north 
of the Ohio. [ If the story of a confederacy being in reality 
formed between these nations, and their statement is cori-ect, 
which we doubt, then, as they afterwards said, they had for- 
bidden the treaty at Fort Ilarmar, and warned Governor St. 
Clair that it would not be binding.] They wished the Ohio 
to be a perpetual boundar}^ between the white and red men 
of the West, and would not sell a rod of the region north of 
it. So strong was this feeling that their young men, they said, 
could not be restrained from warfare upon the invading Long 
Knives, and thence resulted the unceasing attacks upon the 
frontier stations and the emigrants. [Probably they had been 
put up to take this ground by the British traders. They were 
interested in keeping the Americans from the north side of 
the Ohio river, and did much to disaffect these Indians.] 

Washington expressed doubts as to the justness of an offen- 
sive war upon the tribes of the Wabash and Maumee ; and 
had the treaty of Fort Harmar been the sole ground whereon 
the United States could have claimed of the Indians the 
North-western Territory, it may be doubted whether right 
would have justified the steps taken in 1790, "91, and '94; but 
the truth was, that before that treaty, the Iroquois, Delawares, 
Wyandots, and Shawanese had yielded the south of Ohio, the 
ground on which they had long dwelt; and neither the sale to 
Putnam and his associates, nor that to Symmes, was intended 
to reach beyond the lands ceded. Of this we have proof in 
the third article of the ordinance of 1787, passed the day 

* American State Papers, v. 91. fSt nc, ii. 2S1. 



354 GamclirCs Mission. 1790. 

before the proposition to sell to the Ohio Company was for 
the first time debated ; which article declares that the lands 
of the Indians shall never be taken from them without their 
consent. It appears to us, therefore, that the United States 
were fully justified in taking possession of the north-west 
shore of the Belle Riviere, and that without reference to the 
treaty at Fort Ilarmar, which we will allow to have been, if 
the Indians spoke truly, (and they were not contradicted by 
the United States commissioners,) morally worthless. But it 
also appears to us, that in taking those steps in 1790 and 
1791, which we have presently to relate, the federal govern- 
ment acted unwisely ; and that it should then, at the outset, 
have done what it did in 1793, after St. Clair's terrible defeat, 
— namely, it should have sent commissioners of the highest 
character to the lake tribes, and in the jjrcsencc of the British, 
learnt their causes of complaint, and offered fair terms of 
compromise. That such a step was wise and just, the govern- 
ment acknowledged by its after-action ; and surely none can 
question the position that it was more likely to have been 
effective before the savages had twice defeated the armies of 
the confederacy than afterward. The full bearing of these 
remarks will be best seen, however, when the whole tale is 
.^Id, and to that we now proceed. 

In June, 1789, Major Doughty, with a hundred and forty 
men, began the building of Fort Washington at Cincinnati. 
Upon the 29th of December, General Harmar himself came 
down with three hundred additional troops.* 

[Having learned from Major Hamtramck, commanding at 
Vincennes, the hostile feelings of the Wabash and Maumee 
tribes, he left Kaskaskia, on the 11th of June, started for 
Fort Washington, and reached that point upon the 13th day 
of .July.] 

The feelings alluded to had been obtained in the following 
manner. Washington having desired that great pains should 
be taken to learn the real sentiments of the north-western In- 
dians, Governor St. Clair instructed Major Hamtramck at 
Vincennes, (Fort Knox,) to send some experienced persons to 
ascertain the views and feelings of the Miamis and their con- 
federates. The person chosen was Anthony Gamelin, an in- 

* Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, ii. 121. 



1790. Gamelin's Mission. 355 

telligent French trader, of Vincennes, who, on the fifth of 
April, proceeded upon his mission. The Piankeshaws, Kicka- 
poos, and Ouiatenons, (Ouias or Weas,) all referred him to 
their elder brethren, the Miamis, so that he had to journey on 
to the point where the Miamis, Chaouanons,* (Shawanese) and 
Delawares resided ; upon the 23d of April he reached that 
point, and upon the 24th assembled the savages. 

I gave to each nation, he says, two branches of wampum, 
and began the speeches, before the French and English tra- 
ders, being invited by the chiefs to be present, having told 
them myself I would be glad to have them present, having 
nothing to say against any body. After the speech, I showed 
them the treaty concluded at Muskingum, (Foit Harmar,) be- 
tween his excellency Governor St. Clair and sundry nations, 
which displeased them. I told them that the purpose of this 
present time was not to submit them to any condition, but to 
offer them the peace, which made disappear their pleasure. The 
great chief told me that he was pleased with the speech ; that 
he would give me an answer. In a private discourse with the 
great chief, he told me not to mind what the Shawanese 
would tell me, having a bad heai't, and being the perturbators 
of all the nations. He said the Miamies had a bad name, on 
account of mischief done on the River Ohio ; but he told me 
it was not occasioned by his young men, but by the Sha- 
wanese ; his young men going out only for to hunt. 

The 25th of April, Blue Jacket, chief warrior of the Sha- 
wanese, invited me to go to his house, and told me, " My 
friend, by the name and consent of the Shawanese and Dela- 
wares I will speak to you. We are all sensible of your 
speech, and pleased with it : but, after consultation, we can- 
not give an answer without hearing from our father at De- 
troit ; and we are determined to give you back the two 
branches of wampum, and to send you to Detroit to see and 
hear the chief, or to stay here twenty nights for to receive his 
answer. From all quarters we receive speeches from Ameri- 
cans, and not one is alike. We suppose that they intend to 
deceive us. Then take back your branches of wampum." 

The 26th, five Potawatomies arrived here with two negro 
men, which they sold to English traders. The next day I 
went to the great chief of the Miamies, called Les Gris. His 
chief warrior was present. I told him how I had been served 
by the Shawanese. He answered me that he had heard of it : 
that the said nations had behaved contrary to his intentions. 
He desired me not to mind those strangers, and that he would 
soon give me a positive answer. 

* The old French orthography used by CharleT»ix and all others. 



356 Gamclins Journal. 1790. 

The 2Sth April, the great chief desired me to call at the 
French trader's and receive his answer. " Don't take bad," 
said he, " of what I am to tell you. You may go back when 
3"ou please. We cannot give you a positive answer. We 
must send your speeches to all our neighbors, and to the lake 
nations. We cannot give a definitive answer without con- 
sulting the commandant at Detroit." And he desired me to 
render him the two branches of wampum refused by the 
Shawanese; also, a copy of speeches in writing. He promised 
me that, in thirty nights, he would send an answer to Post 
Yincennos, b}- a young man of each nation. He w'as well 
pleased with the speeches, and said to be worthy of attention, 
and should be communicated to all their confederates, having 
resolved among them not to do anything without an unani 
mous consent. I agreed to his requisitions, and rendered him 
the two branches of wampum, and a copy of the speech. 
Afterwards, he told me that the Five Nations, so called, or 
Iroquois, were training something; that five of them, and 
three Wyandots, were in this village with branches of wam- 
pum. He could not tell me presently their purpose ; but he 
said I would know of it very soon. 

The same day, Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawanese, invited 
me to his house for supper ; and, before the other chiefs, told 
me that, after another deliberation, the)' thought necessary 
that I should go myself to Detroit, for to see the commandant, 
who would get all his children assembled for to hear my 
speech. I told them I would not answer them in the night : 
that I was not ashamed to speak before the sun. 

The 29th April I got them all assembled. I told them that 
1 was not to go to Detroit : that the speeches were directed to 
the nations of the river Wabash and the Miami ; and that, for 
to prove the sincerity of the speech, and the heart of Governor 
St. Clair, 1 have willingly given a copy of the speeches, to be 
shown to the commandant of Detroit : and, according to a 
letter wrote by the commandant of Detroit to the Miamies, 
Shawanese, and Delawares, mentioning to you to be peacea- 
ble with the Americans, I would go to him very willingly, if it 
was in my directions, being sensible of his sentiments. I told 
them I had nothing to say to the commandant ; neither him to 
me. You must immediately resolve, if you intend to take 
me to Detroit, or else I am to go back as soon as possible. 
Blue Jacket got up and told me, " jNIy friend-, we are well 
pleased with what you say. Our intention is not to force you 
to go to Detroit : it is only a proposal, thinking it for the best. 
Our answer is the same as the Miamies. We will send, in 
thirty nights, a full and positive answer, by a young man of 
each nation, by writing, to Post Yinccnnes." In the evening, 
Blue Jackpt, chief of the Shawanese, having taken me to sup- 
per with him, told me, in a private manner, that the Sha- 



1790. Gamcliri's Journal. 357 

wanese nation was in doubt of the sincerity of the Big Knives, 
so called, having been already deceived by them. That thej^ 
had first destroyed their lands, put out their fire, and sent 
away their young men, being a hunting, without a mouthful 
of meat : also, had taken away their women ; wherefore, 
many of them would, with a great deal of pain, forget these 
affronts. Moreover, that some other nations were apprehend- 
ing that offers of peace would, may be, tend to take away, 
by degrees, their lands ; and would serve them as they did be- 
fore : a certain proof that they intend to encroach on our 
lands, is their new settlement on the Ohio. If they don't keep 
this side (of the Ohio) clear, it will never be a proper recon- 
cilement with the nations Shawanese, Iroquois, Wyandots, 
and, perhaps many others. Le Gris, chief of the Miamies, 
asked me, in a private discourse, what chief had made a 
treaty with the Americans at Muskingum, (Fort Harmar.) I 
answered him, that their names were mentioned in the treaty. 
He told me he had heard of it some time ago ; but they are 
not chiefs, neither delegates, who made that treaty : they are 
only young men, vvlio without authority and instructions from 
their chiefs, have concluded that treaty, which will not be ap- 
proved. They went to the treaty clandestinely, and they in- 
tend to make mention of it in the next council to be held.* 

On the 8tli of May, Gamelin returned to Fort Knox, and 
on the 11th, some traders from the Upper Wabash arrived, 
bringing news that parties from the north had joined the 
Wabash savages ; that the whole together had already gone 
to war upon the Americans ; and that three days after Game- 
lin left the Miamis, an American captive had been burned in 
their village rf all which things so plainly foretold trouble on 
the frontier, that St. Clair, as vv'e have stated, hastened to 
Fort Washington to concert with General Harmar a campaign 
into the country of the hostile tribes. 

Before we proceed with the history of Harmar's campaign, 
however, it seems proper to give in one view all that we 
know relative to the agency of the British in keeping up In- 
dian hostility after the peace of 1783. 

Most of the tribes, as our readers have seen, adhered to 
England during the Revolutionary struggle. When the war 
ceased, however, England made no provision for them, and 
transferred the Northwest to the United States, without any 
stipulation as to the rights of the natives. The United States, 

* American State Papers, v. p. 93. 
t American State Papers, v. 87. 



358 -^ency of Britain. 1790. 

regarding the lands of the hostile tribes as conquered and for- 
feited, proceeded to give peace to the savages, and to grant 
them portions of their own lands. This produced discontent, 
and led to the formation of the confederacy hpaded by Brant.* 
To assist the purposes of this union, it was very desirable that 
the British should still hold the posts along the lakes, and sup- 
ply the red men with all needful things. The forts they 
claimed a right to hold, because the Americans disregarded 
the treaty of 1783 ; the trade with the Indians, even though 
the latter might be at war with the United States, they 
regarded as perfectly fair and just. Having thus a sort of 
legal right to the position they occupied, the British did, un- 
doubtedly and purposely, aid and abet the Indians hostile to 
the United States. In 1785, after the formation of his confed- 
eracy, Brantwent to England, and his arrival was thus an- 
nounced in the London prints : 

This extraordinary personage is said to have presided at 
the late grand Congress of confederate chiefs of the Indian 
nations in America, and to be by them appointed to the con- 
duct and chief command in the war which they now meditate 
against the United States of America. He took his departure 
for England immedieitely as that assembly broke up ; and it 
is conjectured that his embassy to the British Court is of great 
importance. This country owes much to the services of 
Colonel Brant during the late war in America. He was edu- 
cated at Philadelphia ; is a very shrewd, intelligent person, 
possesses great courage and al^ilities as a warrior, and is in- 
violably attached to the British nation.f 

On the 4th of January, 1786, he visited Lord Sidney, the 
Colonial Secretary, and after plainly and boldly stating the 
trouble of the Indians at the forgetfulncss of Britain — the en- 
croachments of the Americans — and their fear of serious 
consequences, i. e. war, he closed with these words : 

This we shall avoid to the utmost of our power, as dearly 
as we love our lands. But should it, contrary to our wishes, 
haj)pon, we desire to know whether we are to be considered 
as His Majesty's faithful allies, and have that support and 
countenance such as old and true frienJs expect. J 

The English minister returned a perfectly non-committal 
answer; and when the Alohawk chieftain, upon his return, 
met the confederated natives in November, 1786, he could 

» lleckewelder's Narrative, 379. Stone's Life of Brant, ii. 247. 240. 
t Stone, ii. 249. % Ibid, 254. 



1790. Brant'' s Movements. 359 

give them no distinct assurances of aid from England, But 
while all definite promises were avoided, men situated as 
John Johnson, the Indian superintendent, did not hesitate to 
write to him — 

Do not suffer an idea to hold a place in your mind, that 
it will be for your interest to sit still and see the Ameri- 
cans attempt the posts. It is for your sakes chiefly, if not 
entirely, that we hold them. If you become indifierent 
about them, they may perhaps be given u]) ; what security 
would you then have ? You would be left at the mercy 
of a people whose blood calls aloud for revenge ; whereas, 
by supporting them, you encourage us to hold them, and en- 
courage the new settlements, already considerable, and every 
day increasing by numbers coining in, who find they can't 
live in the States. Many thousands are preparing to come 
in. This increase of his Majesty's subjects will serve as a 
protection for you, should the subjects of the States, by en- 
deavoring to make further encroachments on you, disturb 
your quiet.* 

This letter was written in March, 1787 ; and two months 
afterwards. Major Matthews, who had been in the suite of 
the Government of Canada, Lord Dorchester, after being ap- 
pointed to command at Detroit, speaks still more explicitly, 
and in the Governor's name also : " His Lordship was sorry to 
learn," he says — 

That while the Indians were soliciting his assistance in their 
preparations for war, some of the Six Nations had sent depu- 
ties to Albany to treat with the Americans, who, it is said, 
have made a treaty with them, granting permission to make 
roads for the purpose of coming to Niagara; but that, not- 
withstanding these things, the Indians should have their 
presents, as they are marks of the King's approbation of their 
former conduct. In future his lordship wishes them to act as 
is best for their interest; he cannot begin a war with the 
Americans, because some of their people encroach and make 
depredations upon parts of the Indian country; but they must 
see it is his lordship's intention to defend the posts ; and that 
while these are preserved, the Indians must find great secur- 
ity therefrom, and consequently the Americans greater diffi- 
culty in taking possession of their lands; but should they once 
become masters of the posts, they will surround the Indians, 
and accomplish their purpose with little trouble. PVom a 
consideration of all which, it therefore remains with the In- 
dians to decide what is most for their own interest, and to let 
his lordship know their determination, that he may take his 

* stone, ii, 26S, 



360 British Views. 1790. 

measures accordingly ; but, whatever their resolution is, it 
should be taken as by one and the same people, by which 
means they will be respected and become strong; but if they 
divide, and act one part against the other, they will become 
weak, and help to destroy each other. This is a substance of 
what his lordship desired me to tell you, and I request you 
will give his sentiments that mature consideration which their 
justice, generosity, and desire to promote the welfare and 
happiness of the Indians, must appear to all the world to 
merit. 

In your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the Eng- 
lish are not very anxious about tlie defence of the posts. You 
will soon be satisfied that they have nothing more at heart, 
provided that it continues to be the wish of the Indians, and 
that they remain firm in doing their part of the business, b}' 
preventing the Americans from coming into their country, 
and consequently from marching to the posts. On the other 
hand, if the Indians think it more for their interest that the 
Americans should have possession of the posts, and be estab- 
lished in their country, they ought to declare it, that the Eng- 
lish need no longer be put to the vast and unnecessary expense 
and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief object of which 
is to protect their Indian allies, and the loyalists who have 
suflered with them. It is well known that no encroachments 
ever have or ever will be made by the English upon the lands 
or property of the Indians in consequence of possessing the 
posts; how far that Mill be the case if ever the Americans get 
into them, may very easily be imagined, from their hostile 
perseverance, even without that advantage, in driving the 
Indians off their lands and taking possession of them.* 

These assurances on the part of the British, and the delay of 
Congress in replying to the address of the confederated na- 
tions, dated December, 1786, led to the general council of 
1768 ; but the divisions in that body, added to the uncertain 
support of the English government, at length caused Brant 
for a time to give up his interest in the efforts of the western 
natives, among whom the Miamies thenceforth took the lead ; 
although, as our extracts from Gamelin's journal show, a true 
spirit of union did not, even in 1790, prevail among the 
various tri])es. [Some of the Dclawares and Miamies so far 
quarrelled, that the former left the Miami country, and settled 
in Upper Louisiana.] At that time, however, the British in- 
fluence over the Miamies and their fellows, was in no degree 
lessened, as is plain from the entire reference of their affairs, 

* Sec Stone, iii. 271. 



1790. British Agents urge Indians to War. 361 

when Gamelin went to them, to the commandant at Detroit. 
Nor can we wonder at the hold possessed over the red men by . 
the English, when such wretches as McKee, Elliott and Girty,* 
were the go-betweens, the channels of intercourse. 

In 1773, the Rev. D. Jones found Alexander McKee living 
about three miles from Paint Creek, Ohio, among the Shaw- 
anese. (See his Journal in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 262.) 
On the 29th of February, 1776, Col. Butler, the refugee hero 
of Wyoming and Indian agent for England, wrote to McKee, 
then residing as Indian agent at Fort Pitt, to come to Niagara ; 
in consequence of which the committee of Western Augusta, 
obliged him to bind himself to have nothing to do with the 
Indians on account of Great Britain ; and this parole Con- 
gress accepted. (American Archives, fourth series, v. 818, 
820, 1692.— Old Journals, ii. 67.) In 1778, however, he left 
Pittsburgh with Simon Girty, Matthew Elliott and others, to 
join the British. (Heckewelder's Narrative, 170.) He be- 
came a Colonel, and was a leader among the north-west In- 
dians from that time till his death. He had stores at the 
Falls of the Maumee. (See American State papers, v. 243. 
351.) Some of his letters were taken at Proctor's defeat in 
1813. (See Armstrong's Notices, i. appendix No. 2 , 188. — 
Brown's History of War of 1812, ii. appendix.) Matthew 
Elliott had been a trader ; in 1776 he was taken by the Brit- 
ish and joined them, for which he received a Captain's com- 
mission. In 1790-95 he lived at the mouth of Detroit river, 
and carried on trade and farming. (See Heckewelder's Nar- 
rative, 147, 170.) 

It is hard to say lioiv far the British agents aided the savages 
in 1790 and 1791. The following is from a certificate by 
Thomas Rhea, taken by the Indians in May, 1781, and who 
escaped in June. He is stated to have been untrustworthy, 
(American State Papers, v. 196,) but his account is in part 
confirmed by other evidence. 

At this place, the Miami, were Colonels Brant and McKee, 
with his son Thomas ; and Captains Bunbury and Silvie, of 
the British troops. These otHcers, &c., were all encamped on 
the south side of the Miami, or Ottawa river, at the rapids 
above Lake Erie, about eighteen miles; they had clever 
houses, built chiefly by the Potawatomies and other Indians ; 
in these they had stores of goods, with arms, ammunition, and 
provision, which they issued to the Indians in great abun- 
dance, viz: corn, pork, peas, &c. The Indians came to this 
place in parties of one, two, three, four, and five hundred at 
a time, from diflierent quarters, and received from Mr. jMcKee 
and the Indian officers, clothing, arms, ammunition, provisions, 

* Girty we have already spoken of. Alexander McKee, (sometimes written McKay and 
McGce) was an Indian agent before the Revolution. 

23 



362 British Supply Indians. 1790. 

&;c., and set out immediately for the upper Miami towns, 
where they understood the forces of the United States were 
bending their course, and in order to supply the Indians 
from other quarters collected there, pirogues, loaded with the 
above mentioned articles, were sent up the Miami river, 
wrought by French Canadians. About the last of May, Cap- 
tain Silvie purchased me from the Indians, and I staid with 
him at this place till the 4th of June, (the King's birth day.) 
when I was sent to Detroit. Previous to leaving the Miami 
river, I saw one Mr. Dick, who, with his wife, was taken 
prisoner near Pittsburgh, in the Spring — I believe, by the 
Wyandots. Mr. McKee was about to purchase Mr. Dick from 
the Indians, but found it difficult. Mrs. Dick was separated 
from him, and left at a village at some distance from this 
place. 1 also saw a young boy, named Brittle, (Brickell, pro- 
bably, see his narrative, American Pioneer, i. 43,) who was 
taken in the spring, fiom near a mill, (Capt. O'llara's.) near 
Pittsburgh, his hair was cut, and he was dressed and armed 
for war ; could not get speaking to him. About the 5th of June, 
in the Detroit river, I met from sixty to one hundred canoes, 
in three parties, containing a large party of Indian.s, who ap- 
peared to be very wild and uncivilized ; they were dressed 
chiefly in buffalo and other skin bhinketv, with otter skin and 
other fur breech cloths, armed with bows and arrows, and 
spears ; they had no guns, and seemed to set no store by them, 
or know little of their use, nor had the}' any inclination to re- 
ceive them, though ofl'ered to them. They said they were 
three moons on their way. The other Indians called them 
Manitofs. About this time there was a field day of the troops 
at Detroit, which I think is from five to six hundred in num- 
ber ; the next day a field day of the French militia took 
place, and one hundred and fifty of the Canadians, \\\\\\ some 
others, turned out volunteers to join the Indians, and were to 
set off the 8th for the Miami village, with their own horses, 
after being plentifully supplied with arms and ammunition, 
clothing, and provisions, eS:c., to fit them for the march. "While 
I was at the Miami or Ottawa river, as they call it, I had 
mentioned to Col. McKce, and other cflicers, that I had seen 
Col. Procter on his way to Fort Franklin ; that I understood 
that he was on his way to the Miami, or Sandusky, with some 
of the Senecas, and that he expected the Cornj)lanter would 
accompany him, in order to settle matters with the hostile 
nations; and that he expected to get shipping at Fort Plrie, to 
bring him and those people to the ]Miami, or Sandu^ky, A:c. 
That the officeis, in their conversation with each other, said, 
if they were at Fort Erie, he should get no shipping there &:c.- 
That the Mohawks and other Indians, that could speak Engli.'-h. 
declare that if he (meaning Col. Procter,) or any other Yan- 
kee messenger, came there, they should never carry messages 



1790. Views of the Indians. 363 

back. This was frequently expressed by the Indians ; and 
Simon Girty, and a certain Patt Hill, declared Procter should 
not return, if he had a hundred Senecas with him; and many 
other such threats were used, and every movement, appear- 
ance, and declaration, seemed hostile to the United States. 
And I understood that Col. McKee, and the other officers, in- 
tended only to stay at the Miami till they had furnished the 
war parties of Indians with the necessaries mentioned above, 
to fit them for war, and then would return to Detroit. That 
Elliott had returned to Detroit, and Simon Girty, and that 
Girty declared he would go and join the Indians, and that 
Capt. Elliott told him he was going the next day, with a boat 
load of goods for the Indians, and that Girty might have a 
passage with him. That on the 7th of June, the ship Dun- 
more sailed for Fort Erie, in which I got a passage. We ar- 
rived there in four days. About the 12th of .June I saw taken 
into this vessel, a number of cannon, eighteen pounders, with 
other military stores, and better than two companies of artil- 
lery troops, destined, as I understood, for Detroit and the up- 
per posts; some of the artillery-men had to remain behind, 
for want of room in the vessel. I have just recollected that, 
while I was at the Ottawa river, I saw a party of warriors 
come in M'ith the arms, accoutrements, clothing, &c., of a 
sergeant, corporal, and, they said, twelve men, whom they had 
killed in some of the lower posts on the Ohio ; that a man of 
the Indian department offered me a coat, which had a number 
of bullet and other holes in it, and was all bloody, which I re- 
fused to take, and Col. McKee then ordered me clothes out of 
the Indian store." (Amer. State papers, v. 196.) 

"You invite us," said one of the war-chiefs to Gamelin, "to 
stop our young men. It is impossible to do it, being con- 
stantly encouraged by the British." 

"We confess," said another Indian, "that we accepted the 
axe, but it is by the reproach we continually receive from the 
English and other nations, which received the axe first, calling 
us women ; at the present time, they invite our young men to 
war; as to the old people, they are wishing for peace." '^ 

Every peaceful message from the officers of the crown 
was stopped on its way to the excited children of the forest; but 
every word of a hostile character, exaggerated and added to. 

At the time of Gamelin's mission, the spring of 1790, before 
any act of hostility on the part of the United States had made 
reconciliation impossible, before the success of the savages 
had made their demands such as could not be granted, we can- 
not but think it would have been true wisdom to have sent to 
the northern tribes, not an Indian trader, but such a represen- 

* American State Papers, v. 93. 



364 Stale of the Kentucky Troops . 1790. 

tation as was sent three years later. Such, however, was not 
the course pursued. Governor St. Clair, under the acts of 
Congress passed the previous year, on the 15th of July, called 
upon Virginia for one thousand, and upon Pennsylvania for 
five hundred militia. Of these, three hundred were to meet 
at Fort Steuben (JefFersonville) to aid the troops from Fort 
Knox (Vincennes) against the Weas and Kickapoos of the 
Wabash; seven hundred were to gather at Fort Washington, 
(Cincinnati); and five hundred just below Wheeling ; the two 
latter bodies being intended to march with the federal troops, 
from Fort Washington, under General Harmar, against the 
towns at the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph.* The 
Kentucky militia men began to come in at Fort W'ashington 
about the middle of September, the 15th being the day named. 
Of their fitness for service, we may judge by Major Ferguson's 
evidence: 

They were very illy equipped, being almost destitute of 
camp kettles and axes ; nor could a supply of these essential 
articles be procured. Their arms were, generally, very bad, 
and unfit for service; as 1 was the commanding ofliccr of ar- 
tillery, they came under my inspection, in making what repairs 
the time would permit; and as a specimen of their badness, 
I would inform the court, that a riile was brought to be re- 
paired without a lock, and another without a stock. I often 
asked the owners what induced them to think that those guns 
could be repaired at that time ? And they gave me for an- 
swer, that they were told in Kentucky that all repairs would 
be made at Fort Washington. JMany of the officers told me, 
that they had no idea of there being half the numl)cr of bad 
arms in the whole district of Kentucky, as was then in the 
hands of their men. As soon as the principal part of the 
Kentucky militia arrived, the General began to organize them ; 
in this he had many difiiculties to encounter. Colonel Trotter 
aspired to the command, although Colonel Hardin was the 
eldest ofiicer, and in this he was encouraged both by men and 
officers, who openly declared, unless Colonel Trotter com- 
manded them, they would return home. After two or three 
daj's the business was settled, and they [i. e. the Kentucky 
men] were formed into three battalions, under the command 
of Colonel Trotter, and Colonel llardin had the command of 
all the militia, [both Pennsylvania and Virginia.] As soon as 
they were arranged, they were mustered , crossed the Ohio, 
and, on the 26th, marched, and encamped about ten miles 
from Fort Washington. The last of the Pennsylvania militia 

♦ American State P.ipcrs, v. ?-l, 92. 



1790. Expedition against the Miami Villages. 365 

arrived on the 25th September. They were equipped nearly 
as the Kentucky militia, but were worse armed ; several were 
without any. The General ordered all the arms in store to 
be delivered to those who had none, and to those whose guns 
could not be repaired. Amongst the militia were a great 
many hardly able to bear arms, such as old, infirm men, and 
young boys ; they were not such as might be expected from a 
frontier country, that is, the smart active woodsman, well ac- 
customed to arms, eager and alert to revenge the injuries done 
them and their connexions. No, there were a great number 
of them substitutes, who probably had never fired a gun. 
Major Paul, of Pennsylvania, told me, that many of his men 
were so awkward, that they could not take their gun locks off 
to oil them, and put them on again, nor could they put in their 
flints so as to be useful; and even of such materials, the num- 
bers came far short of what was ordered, as may be seen by 
the returns.* 

Trouble had been anticipated from the aversion of the 
frontier men to act with regular troops ; General Harmar had 
been warned on the subject by the Secretary of War — and 
every pains had been taken to avoid the evils apprehended. 
Notice had also been given to the British that the troops col- 
lected were to be used against the Indians alone, so that no 
excuse might be given McKee & Co., for co-operation ;t and 
when upon the 30th Sept^Vnber Harmar left Fort Washing- 
ton every step seemed to have been taken which experience 
or judgment could suggest to secure the success of the expedi- 
tion. The same seems to have been true of the march, the 
Court of Inquiry held in 1791, having approved every ar- 
rangement. On the 13th of October, the army being then > 
thirty or thirty-five miles from the Miami villages, it was de- ( 
termined, in consequence of information given by a captured 
Indian, to send forward Colonel John Hardin with a detach- 
ment of six hundred militia men, and one company of regu- 
lars, to surprise the enemy, and keep them in their forts until 
the main body could come up with the artillery. 

The troops were organized and moved forward, as follows : 

" The Kentuckians composed three battalions, under the 
the Majors Hall, McMuUen and Bay, with Lieutenant Colonel 
Commandant Trotter at their head. The Pennsylvanians 
were formed into one battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel 
Trubley and Major Paul, the whole to be commanded by 

* American State Papers, xii. 20. 
t Americaa State Papers, v. 96. 100. 



366 Expedition against the Miami Villages. 1790. 

Colonel John Hardin, subject to the orders of General Har- 
mar. The 30th, the General having got forward all the sup- 
plies that he expected, he moved out with the federal troops, 
formed into two small battalions, under the immediate com- 
mand of Major Wyllys and Major Doughty, together Mith 
Captain Ferguson's company of artillery, and three pieces of 
ordnance. On the 3d of October, General Harmar joined 
the advanced troops early in the morning ; the remaining 
part of the day was spent in forming the line of march, the 
order of encampment and battle, and explaining the same to 
the militia field officers. General Harmar's orders will show 
the several formations. On the 4th, the army took up the 
order of' march as is described in the orders. On the 5th, a 
reinforcement of horsemen and mounted infantry joined from 
Kentucky. The dragoons were formed into two troops ; the 
mounted riflemen made a company, and this small battalion 
of light troops were put under the command of Major 
Fontaine. 

The whole of General Harmar's command then may be 
stated thus : 

3 battalions of Kentucky militia, \ 

1 do. Pennsylvania do. V 1133 

1 do. Light troops mounted do. ) 

2 do. Federal troops, - - - 320 

Total, - - - - • - - - 14r33 

(American State Papers, xii. 24. 30. to 33.) 

On the 14th this party marched forward, and upon the next 
day about three o'clock reached the villages, but they were 
deserted. On the morning of the 17th, the main army arriv- 
ed, and the work of destruction commenced ; by the 21st, the 
chief town, five other villages, and nearly twenty thousand 
bushels of corn in ears, had been destroyed. When Harmar 
reached the Maumee towns .and found no enemy, he thought 
of pushing forvi^ard to attack the Wea and other Indian set- 
tlements upon the Wabash, but was prevented by the loss both 
of pack horses and cavalry horses, which the Indians seem to 
have stolen in quantities to suit themselves, in consequence of 
the wilful carelessness of the owners, who made the United 
States pay first for the use of their nags, then for the nags 
themselves. The Wabash plan being dropped, Colonel Trot- 
ter was dispatched with three hundred men to scuur the 
woods in search of an enemy, as the tracks of women and 
children had been seen near by ; and we cannot give a better 



1790. Destruction of Villages arid other Pi^operty. 367 

idea of the utter want of discipline in the army, than by some 
extracts from the evidence of Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) 
Armstrong ; this gentleman was with Trotter during the 18th 
of October, and also with Hardin, who, on the 19th, took the 
command, General Harmar being much dissatisfied with 
Trotter's ineffective Indian chase of the previous day.* 

After we had proceeded about a mile, says Armstrong, the 
cavalry gave chase to an Indian, who was mounted, him they 
overtook and killed. Before they returned to the column a 
second appeared, on which the four field officers left their 
commands and pursued, leaving the troops near half an hour 
without any directions whatever. The cavalry came across 
the second Indian, and, after he had wounded one of their 
party, killed him also. When the infantry came up to this 
place they immediately fell into confusion, upon which I 
gained permission to leave them some distance on the road, 
where I formed an ambuscade. After I had been some time at 
my station, a fellow on horseback came to me, who had lost 
the party in pursuit of the first Indian ; he was much frighten- 
ed, and said he had been pursued by fifty mounted Indians. 
On my telling this story to Colonel Trotter, notwithstanding 
my observations to him, he changed his route, and marched in 
various directions until night, when he returned to camp. 

On our arrival in camp. General Harmar sent for me, and 
after asking me many questions, ordered one subaltern and 
twenty militia to join my command. With these I reached the 
river St. Joseph about ten at night, and with a guide proceed- 
ed to an Indian town, about two miles distant, where I con- 
tinued with my party until the morning of the nineteenth. 
About nine o'clock I joined the remainder of the detachment 
under Colonel Hardin. We marched on the route Colonel 
Trotter had pursued the day before, and after passing a 
morass about five miles distant, we came to where the enemy 
had encamped the day before. Here we made a short halt, 
and the commanding ofiicer disposed of the parties at a dis- 
tance from each other ; after a halt of half an hour, we were 
ordered to move on, and Captain Faulkner's company was 
left on the ground ; the Colonel having neglected giving him 
orders to move on. After we had proceeded about three 
miles, we fell in with two Indians on foot, who threw off their 
packs, and the brush being thick, made their escape. I then 
asked Colonel Hardin where Captain Faulkner was ? He 
said he was lost, and then sent Major Fontaine with part of 
the cavalry in search of him, and moved on with the remain- 
der of the troops. Some time after, I informed Colonel Har- 
din a gun had fired in our front, which might be considered as 

* See the statements of Major Fergu'on and Lieutenant Denny, in American State 
Paper?, xli. 21, 25; also, Cist's Miscellany, \. 195, 196.— Ed. 



368 FergusoTi's Account of Harmar's First AcLion. 1790. 

an alarm gun, and that I saw where a horse had come down 
the road, and returned again ; but the Colonel still moved on, 
giving no orders, nor making any arrangements for an attack. 
Some time after, I discovered the enemy s fires at a distance, 
and informed the Colonel, who replied, that they would not 
fight, and rode in front of the advance, until fired on from 
behind the fires ; when he, the Colonel, retreated, and with 
him all the militia except nine, who continued with me, and 
were instantly killed, with twenty-four of the federal troops ; 
seeing my last man fall, and being surrounded by the savages, 
I threw myself into a thicket, and remained there three hours 
in day-light ; during that time I had an opportunity of seeing 
the enemy pass and re-pass, and conceived their numbers did 
not amount to one hundred men ; some were mounted, others 
armed with rifles, and the advance with tomahawks only. I 
am of opinion that had Colonel Trotter proceeded, on the 
I8th, agreeably to his orders, having killed the enemy's sen- 
tinel's, he would have surprised their camp, and with ease de- 
feated them; or had Colonel Hardin arranged his troops, or 
made any military disposition, on the 19th, that he would 
have gained a victory. Our defeat I, therefore, ascribe to 
two causes; the unofficer-like conduct of Colonel Hardin, 
(who, I believe, was a brave man,) and the cowardly be- 
havior of the militia ; many of them threw down their arms 
loaded, and I believe that none, except the party under my 
command, fired a gun.* 

At this time, probably, the jealousy between the regulars 
and militia which had been anticipated, and which had 
threatened trouble at Fort Washington, began effectually to 
work mischief; the regular troops disliked to be commanded 
by Trotter and Hardin, the arm}' officers despised the militia, 
and the militia hating them, were impatient under the con- 
trol of Harmar and his staff. Again, the rivalry between 
Trotter and Hardin was calculated to make the elements of 
discord and disobedience yet more wide-spread ; so that all 
true confidence between the officers and men was destroyed, 
and with it, of necessity, all true strength. 

But though the troops had been disap2">ointed and defeated, 
the houses and crops had been burned and wasted, and upon 
the 21st of October, the arm}' commenced its homeward 
march. But Hardin was not easy under his defeat, and the 
night of the 21st being favorable, he proposed to Harmar to 
send back a detachment to the site of the vilhages just de- 
stroyed, supposing the savages would have already returned 

* American State Papers, xii. p. 26. 



1790. Jealousy between the Regulars and Militia. 369 

thither. The General was not very willing to try farther ex- 
periments, but Hardin urged him, and at last obtained an 
order for three hundred and forty militia, of which forty 
were mounted, and sixty regular troops ; the former under 
Hardin himself, the latter under Major Wyllys. How they 
fared shall be told by Captain Asheton, an actor in the affray. 
The detachment marched in three columns, the federal 
troops in tlie centre, at the head of which I was posted, with 
Major Wyllys and Colonel Hardin in my front; the militia 
formed the columns to the right and left. From delays, oc- 
casioned by the militia's halting, we did not reach the banks 
of the Omee [Maumee] till some time after sunrise. The 
spies then discovered the enemy, and reported to Major 
Wyllys, who halted the federal troops, and moved the militia 
on some distance in front, where he gave his orders and plan 
of attack to the several commanding officers of corps. Those 
orders were not communicated to me. Major Wyllys reserv- 
ed the command of the federal troops to himself. Major 
Hall, with his battalion, M^as directed to take a circuitous 
route round the bend of the Omee River, cross the Pickaway 
Fork, (or St. JMary's) which brought him directly in the rear 
of the enemy, and there wait until the attack should com- 
mence with Major McMullen's battalion. Major Fontaine's 
cavalry, and Major Wyllys with the federal troops, who all 
crossed the Omee at, and near, the common fording place. 
After the attack commenced, the troops were by no means to 
separate, but were to embody, or the battalions to support 
each other, as circumstances required. From this disposition 
it appeared evident, that it was the intention of Major Wyllys 
to surround the enemy, and that if Colonel Hall, who had 
gained his ground undiscovered, had not wantonly disobeyed 
his orders, by firing on a single Indian, the surprise must have 
been complete. The Indians then fled with precipitation, the 
battalions of militia pursuing in different directions. Major " 
Fontaine made a charge upon a small party of savages — he 
fell the first fire, and his troops dispersed. The federal troops, 
who were then left unsupported, became an easy sacrifice to 
much the largest party of Indians that had been seen that 
day. It was my opinion that the misfortunes of that day 
were owing to the separation of troops, and disobedience of 
orders. After the federal troops were defeated, and the firing, 
in all quarters nearly ceased. Colonel Hall and Major ]Mc- 
Mullen, with their battalions, met in the town, and after dis- 
charging, cleaning, and fresh loading their arms, which took 
up about half an hour, proceeded to join the army unmolest- 
ed. I am convinced that the detachment, if it had been kept 
embodied, was sufficient to have answered the fullest expecta- 
tions of the General, and needed no support; but I was in- 



370 Harmar^s Second Action. 1790. 

formed a battalion under Major Ray was ordered out for that 
purpose.* 

When Hardin returned to camp after this skirmish, he 
wished the General either to send another party, or take the 
whole army to the battle ground, but Harmar would not favor 
either plan. lie did not wish, he said, to divide his troops ; 
he had little food for his horses; and he thought the Indians 
had received " a very good scourging ;" upon the next morn- 
ing, accordingl}', the army took up its line of march for Fort 
Washington, in a regular, soldier-like way. Two men, says 
Ilardia, wished to have another tussle with the Miamis ; — of 
the whole army, only two !f Before reaching Fort Washing- 
ton, however, new trouble occurred. 

At old Chillicothe, on Little Miami, says Colonel Hardin, a 
number of the militia, contrary to orders, fired off their guns. 
I endeavored to put a stop to such disorderly behavior, and 
commanded that those offenders that could be taken should 
be punished agreeably to general orders; and having caught 
a soldier myself in the very act of tiring his gun, ordered a file of 
men to take him immediately and carry him to the six poun- 
der, and for the drummer to tie him up and give him six lashes ; 
I was shortly after met by Colonel Trotter and Mnjor McMul- 
ien, and a number of militia soldiers, who in an abrupt man- 
ner asked me by what authority I ordered that soldier whipped ; 
J replied in support of general orders; on which a vej-y warm 
dispute ensued between Coloael Trotter, Major McMuilen, and 
myself. The General being intbrmed of what had happened, 
came forward, and gave Colonel Trotter and Major McMuilen 
aver}' severe reprimand, ordered the federal troops to ])arade, 
and the drummer to do his duty, swearing he would risk his 
liCe in support of his orders: the man received the number of 
lashes ordered, and several that were confined were set at 
liberty; numbers of the militia seemed much pleased with 
what was done. This intended mutiny being soon quashed, 
the army proceeded in good order to Fort Washington. When 
the army arrived at the mouth of Licking, the General in- 
formed me he had determined to arrest some of the militia 
oflicei's for their bad conduct, and send them home with dis- 
grace ; but I opposed his intention, alleging that it wojld be a 
disgrace to the whole militia; that he would perhaps stand in 

** See American State Papers, xii. 28. — Se« account in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 
133; — also, McClung'd Sketches of Western Adventure, p. 241, and other?. We prefer 
that of an e\-c-witness. — We have verbally changed A>heton's statement, which is given 
in the tliirJ pers m. See also Hardin's deposition, American State Papers, xii. 34. 

t See in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellanj', i. 105, an account of Ilarmar's Campaign, by one 
present. 



1790-95. Indian view of Harmar's Campaign. 371 

need of their assistance on some future occasion, audit would 
sour their minds and cause them to turn out with reluctance ; 
and that his discharging them generally with honor, perhaps, 
would answer a better purpose: the General readily indulged 
my request.* 

To this last act, which caused much discontent among the 
frontier men : to the two defeats of the 19th and 22d of Oc- 
tober (for such they were;) and to the want of any efficiency 
on the part of Harmar, who, though guilty of no breach of 
military care or common skill, acted like an old woman, com- 
pared with such men as Clark, and " Mad Anthony," must "~v 
be ascribed the great unpopularity of this campaign. The 
army, as a whole, effected all that the popular expeditions of 
Clark in 1782, and of Scott and Wilkinson in 1791, did: we 
mean the annihilation of towns and corn, and was by Harmar 
and St. Clair considered very successful ;t but in reality, in them ^ 
view of the Indians, it was an utter failure and defeat. Their ^ 
account of it was this : 

There have been two engagements about the Miami towns, 
between the Americans and the Indians, in which it is said, 
the former had about five hundred men killed, and that the 
rest have retreated. The loss was only fifteen or twenty on 
the side of the Indians. The Shawanese, Miamies, and Pota- 
watomies were, I understand, the principal tribes who were 
engaged; but I do not learn that any of the nations have re- 
fused their alliance or assistance, and it is confidently re- 
ported that they are now marching against the frontiers on 
the Ohio.J 

Nor was the report of the invasion of the settlements on { 
the Ohio shore far from the truth, as may be seen from the 
following letter : 

On the evening of the 2d [Jan. '91] says Rufus Putnam,') 
writing to the President, bet^veen sunset and daylight- in, 
the Indians surprised a new settlement of our people, at a^, 
place on the Muskingum, called the Big Bottom, nearly forty' 
miles up the river, in which disaster eleven men, one woman, 
and two children, were killed : three men are missing, and ^ 
four others made their escape. Thus, sir, the war, which was / 
partial before the campaign of last year, is, in all probability, 

* American State Papers, xii. 35. 

t This is clear, as we know, from Hi-mar's general orders, upon October 21, when he 
took up hi-< march for Fort Washington, and from his report to the Secretary of War. 
(American State Papers, y. 105, 104.) 

X See Stone, ii. 294. 



372 Letter froin Rufus Putnam. 1791. 

become general. I think there is no reason to suppose that 
\vc are the only people on whom the savages will wreak 
their vengeance, or that the number of hostile Indians have 
not increased since the late expedition. Our situation is truly 
critical; the Governor and Secretary both being absent, no 
assistance from Virginia or Pennsylvania can be had. The 
garrison at Fort Harmar, consisting at. this time of little more 
than twenty men, can afford no protection to our settlements, 
and the whole number of men, in all our settlements, capable 
of bearing xirms, including all civil and military officers, do 
not exceed two hundred and eighty-seven, and these, many of 
them, badly armed. We are in the utmost danger of being 
swallowed up, should the enemy push the war with vigor du- 
ring the winter ; this I believe will fully appear, by taking a 
short view of our several settlements, and I hope justify the 
extraordinary measures we have adopted, for want of a legal 
authority in the territory to apply for aid in the business. The 
-situation of our people is nearly as follows : 

At Marietta are about eighty houses, in the distance of one 
mile, with scattering houses about three miles up the Ohio. 
A set of mills at Duck Creek, four miles distant, and another 
mill two miles up the Muskingum. Twenty-two miles up 
this river is a settlement, consisting of about twenty families; 
about two miles from them on Wolf Creek, are five families 
and a set of mills. Down the Ohio, and opposite the Little 
^ Kanawha, commences the settlement called Belle Prairie, 
/ vi^hich extends down the river, with little interruption, about 
twelve miles, and contains between thirty and forty houses. 
Before the late disaster, we had several other settlements, 
which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to en- 
close the proceedings of the Ohio company and justices of 
the sessions on this occasion, and beg leave, with the greatest 
deference, to observe, that, unless Government speedily send 
a body of troops for our protection, we are a ruined people. 
The removal of the women and children, etc., will reduce 
many of the poorer sort to the greatest straits ; but if we add 
to this the destruction of their corn, forage and cattle, by the 
enemy, which is very probable to ensue, I know of no way 
they can be supported; but, if this should not happen, where 
these people are to raise bread another year, is not easy to 
conjecture, and most of them have nothing left to buy with. 
But my fears do not stop here; we are a people so far de- 
tached from all others, in point of situation, that we can hope 
for no timely relief, in case of emergency, from any of our 
neigbors ; and among the number that compose our present 
military sti-ength, almost one-half are young men, hiretl into 
the country, intending to settle by and by; these, under pre- 
sent circum.^tances, will probably leave us soon, unless pros- 
pects should brighten ; and, as to new settlers, we can expect 



1791. Plan of another Campaign. 373 

none in our present situation ; so that, instead of increasing 
in strength, we are likely to diminish daily ; and, if we do 
not fall a prey to the savages, we shall be so reduced and dis- 
couraged as to give up the settlement, unless Government 
shall give us timely protection. It has been a mystery with 
some, why the troops have been withdrawn from this quarter, 
and collected at the Miami ; that settlement is, I believe, 
within three or four days' march of a very populous part of 
Kentucky, from whence, in a few days, they might be rein- 
forced with several thousand men, whereas, we are not with- 
in two hundred miles of any settlement, that can probably 
more than protect themselves.* 

The spirit thus manifested by the tribes which had just 
been attacked, and the general feelings along the frontier in 
relation to Harmar's expedition, made the United States Gov- 
ernment sensible that their first step in the conduct of back- 
woods warfare, had been a failure, and that prompt and 
strong measures, calculated either to win, or force a state of 
peace, must be adopted. f The plan which was resorted to 
was a three-fold one : 

1st. To send a messenger to the western Indians with of- 
fers of peace, to be accompanied by some of the Iroquois 
chieftains favorable to America. 

2d. At the same time to organize expeditions in the West, 
to strike the Wea, Miami and Shawanee towns, in case it 
should be clear the peace messenger would fail in his mis- 
sion ; and 

3d. To prepare a grand and overwhelming force with 
which to take possession of the country of the enemies and 
build forts in their midst. 

[The act for protecting the frontier was signed March 3d, 
1791, and Governor St. Clair was appointed to the command 
on the 4th. American State Papers, xii. 36.] 

The person selected to convey messages of peace was Col. 
Thomas Procter, who received his commission upon the 10th 
or 11th of March, 1791, and upon the 12th left Philadelphia 
for the settlement of Cornplanter, or Captain O'Beel or Abeel, 
the chief warrior of the Senecas, and the firm friend of Wash- 
ington and the Union. This chief, with others of similar sen- 

*See American State Papers, v. 121. — See a full account of the settlement on Bi"- Bot- 
tom, and the attack upon it, by Dr. Hildreth, American Pioneer, ii. 101. 

•("See Knox's Keport, American State Papers, v. 112. 



374 Vicu's of the British in 1791. 1791. 

timenis, had been in Philadelphia in the previous December, 
and had promised to use all their influence to secure peace.* 
To them Procter was sent, in the I. ope that they would go 
with him westward, and be the means of preventing further 
bloodshed. In this hope, however, Washington and Knox 
were disappointed ; for, when, with great difficulty, the Amer- 
ican messenger had prevailed upon certain of the Iroquois to 
accompany him, provided a water passage could be had, the 
British commandant at Niagara would not allow an English 
vessel to be hired to convey the ambassadors up Lake Erie ; 
and as no other could be obtained, the whole enterprise 
failed. 

But in order to understand the difficulties which Procter met 
with, we must look at the views of the British, and of those 
Indians who remained firm to the British at this period. Af- 
ter Harmar's campaign, the tribes of the north-west sent a dep- 
utation to Lord Dorchester to learn what aid England would 
give them in the contest now fairly opened. What answer 
precisely was given by the Governor we do not know, but his 
wishes seem to have been that peace might be restored and 
preserved. Colonel Gordon, the British commandant at 
Niagara, who afterwards stopped Procter, was also an advo- 
cate of peace; and on the 4th of March wrote to Brant in 
these words : 

I hope you will embrace the present opportunity of the 
meeting ol" the chiefs of the Five Nations in your neighbor- 
hood, to use your endeavors to heal the wounds between the 
Indians and Americans. I dare say the States wish to make 
peace on terms which will secure to the Indians their present 
possessions in the Miami country, provided the young men 
are restrained from committing depredations in future. f 

[It is evident from their whole course of procedure that 
the British authorities did their utmost to prevent Anierican 
settlements from being made in the North-western Territory. 
They wished to have their Indian allies continue in possession. 
This was their chief motive for retaining the western posts.]. 

Brant himself, on the 7th of jNIarch, writing to McKee, (the 
agent among the Miamies,) says : 

'American State Papers, v. 110-145. Cornplantcr, like Brant, was a half-breed; his 
father's name was O'Leel: See a particular account of him in Day's Historical Collec- 
tions of Pennsylvaaia, 655; also Stone's Life of Red Jacket. 

fStone, ii. 296, 297, 298. 



1791. Reasons of Indian and British Dissatisfaction. 375 

I have received two letters from the States, from gentlemen 
who have lately been in Philadelphia : by which it appears 
the Americans secretly wish to accommodate the matter — 
which 1 should by all means advise, if it could be efiected 
upon honorable and liberal terms, and a peace become 
general.* 

With these views prevailing, why did Brant, Gordon and 
the other officers of Britain do so little afterwards to preserve 
pacific relations ? First, it would seem that the Mohawk 
chieftain was oifended by the favor shown Cornplanter, his 
deadly foe,f and by the attempt of the Americans to divide 
the Iroquois ; and in regard to the latter point, at least, 
the British sympathized with him. Secondly, it is clear that 
the representatives of England, in Canada, were offended, 
and we think naturally, at the entire disregard shown by the 
American government of their influence over the savages 
of the north-west. Those tribes were closely connected 
with the British agents, and under their control, and Lord 
Dorchester, Colonel Gordon and Brant looked for an appeal 
to them as mediators in the quarrel about to burst forth ; or 
at any rate, for an acceptance by the Americans of their me- 
diation, if asked by the Indians; — an acceptance of the kind 
given in 1793, after St. Clair's defeat; and which was not, of 
course, dishonorable or degrading. Thirdly, both the In- 
dians and English were puzzled and excited by the seeming 
(though our readers will know, in no degree, actual) want of 
good faith on the part of the States; which, at the same 
moment almost, commissioned Scott to war upon the Miamies, 
Procter to treat of peace with them, St. Clair to invade and 
take possession of their lands, and Pickering to hold a council 
with their brethren for burying the fatal hatchet, and quench- 
ing the destructive brand. 

From the inconsistent proceedings of the Americans— says 
Colonel Gordon to Brant, upon the 11th of June — I am per- 
fectly at a loss to understand their full intentions. Whilst 
they are assembling councils at different quarters with the 
avowed purpose of bringing about a peace, the Six Nations 
have received a speech from General St. Clair, dated at Pitts- 
burgh, 23d April, inviting them to take up the hatchet against 
their brothers, the western nations. 

«See Stone, ii. 298. 

tJAmerican State Papers, v. 1G7; stated by General Knox. 



376 BranVs Movements fw 1791. 1791. 

Can any thing be more inconsistent? or can they possibly 
believe the Indians are to be duped by such shallow artifices? 
This, far from being the case ; the Indians at Buffalo Creek 
saw the business in its proper light, and treated the invitation 
with the contempt it deserved. It must strike you very 
forcibly, that in all the proceedings of the different Commis- 
sioners from the American States, they have cautious!}' avoided 
applying for our interference, as a measure they affect to think 
perfectly unnecessary: wishing to impress the Indians with the 
ideas of their own consequence, and of the little influence, they 
would wiiUngly believe we are possessed of This, my good 
friend, is not the way to proceed. Had they, bef jre matters 
were pushed to extremity, requested the assistance of the British 
government to bring about a peace on equitable terms, I am 
convinced the measure would have been fully accomplished 
long before this time. 

I would, however, willingly hope they will yet see the pro- 
priety of adopting this mode of proceeding ; and that peace, 
an object so much to be desired, wall at length be perma- 
nently settled. 

I am the more sanguine in the attainment of my wishes, by 
your being on the spot, and that you will call forth the exer- 
tion of your influence and abilities on the occasion.* 

The Americans also were desirous to enlist Brant as a 
peace-maker, and Governor Clinton, of New York, was writ- 
ten to by General Knox, in the hope that he might influence 
the Mohawk leader ; but the chieftain was beyond his reach, 
in the far west, among the tribes who were likely to be fore- 
most in the contest; nor could any learn whether he went 
thither as a peace-maker or promoter of war. Early in May 
the United States Government was informed that he had re- 
vived his plan of a great Indian confederacy; and about the 
19th of that month Procter, at Buffalo, heard from the West 
that Brant was there not to pacify, but to inflame the Miamies 
and their allies ; but yet, as the chiefs of the Six Nations re- 
presented his purpose to be that of a messenger sent to learn 
the feelings of the western tribes, and asked Procter again 
and again to wait his return ; the impression produced upon 
the American Government was that he had nothing in view 
but the cessation of hostilities. f 

Before Procter, (his mission pi'oving in vain,) left Buflalo 
creek, which he did upon the 21st of May, measures had been 

* Stone, ii, 300. 

t American State Paper.', v. 117 ; also, 101, ICS, and 181. 



1791. Expedition of Genci'ul Scott. 377 

taken to secure a council of the Six Nations on the 16th of 
June, at the Painted Post, near the junction of the Coshocton 
and Tioga rivers The purpose of this council was to secure 
the neutrality of the Iroquois by presents and fine words; and 
the plan appears to have succeeded. " Treaty," says Knox, 
writing to St. Clair on the 4th of August, " closed on the 15th 
(of July,) and the Indians returned satisfied. Colonel Picker- 
ing did not attempt to persuade any of them to join our army, 
as he found such a proposal would be very disagreeable to 
them."* 

It had been calculated when Procter left Philadelphia upon 
the 12th of March, that he would cither succeed or distinctly 
fail in his enterprise, in time to reach Fort Washington by 
the 5th of May. This expectation, as we have seen, was en- 
tirely defeated, as he was so delayed that he did not reach 
Buffalo creek until the 27th of April, and did not make his 
first application for a vessel to cross Lake Erie until May 6lh. 
But upon the above calculation, mistaken as it proved, were 
based the arrangements of the United States for carrying into 
effect the second part of the plan for the campaign, — "the 
desultory operations" (as they were termed) for annoying the 
enemy in case Procter failed. These operations were to be 
carried out by the backwoodsmen under their own comman- 
ders. 

The inhabitants of Kentucky, in December, 1790, after 
Ilarmar's return, had petitioned Congress for permission to 
fight the Indians in their own way, and upon the 9th of March, 
1791, orders were issued to Brigadier General Charles Scott, 
authorizing him, in conjunction with Harry Innis, John Brown, 
Benjamin Logan, and Isaac Shelby, to organize an expedition > 
of mounted volunteers against the nations upon the Wabash, S 
to start upon JMay 10th, unless countermanded. f These or- 
ders in substance were obeyed. The troops were, however, 
delayed for news from the north ; but by the 23d of May, no 
news of peace arriving, the detachment took up its line of 
march from the Ohio ; Colonel John Hardin, who burned to ' 
retrieve his fame, acting as a volunteer, without commission, 
and having the post of commander of the advanced party and 

* American State Papers, t. 181. 

I American State Papers, v. 129. St. Clair was empowered to postpone the expedition,. 
and did so. See his Narrative, p. 7. 

24 



378 Expedition of Genei-al Scott. 1791. 

director of the guides. On the 1st of June, the towns of the 
enemy were discovered ; of the after-movements no fairer 
view can probably be given than by General Scott himself. 
Having noticed the villages, — 

I immediately detached Colonel John Hardin, says he, with 
sixty mounted infantry, and a troop of light-horse under Cap- 
tain McCoy, to attack the villages to the left, and moved on 
briskly with my main body, in order of battle, towards the 
town, the smoke of which was discernible. My guides were 
deceived with respect to the situation of the town ; for, in- 
stead of .standing at the edge of the plain through Mhich I 
marched, I found it on the low ground bordering on the Wa- 
ba.sh : on turning the point of woods, one house presented in 
my 'front. Captain Price was ordered to assault that with forty 
men. He executed the command with great gallanti'}^ and 
killed two warriors. 

When I gained the summit of the eminence Avhich over- 
looks the villages on the banks of tlie Wabash, I discovered 
the enemy in great confusion, endeavoring to make their es- 
cape over the river in canoes. J instantlj' ordered Lieutenant 
Colonel-conmiandant Wilkinson to rush forward with the first 
battalion. 'J'he order was executed with promptitude, and 
this detachment gained the bank of the river just as the rear 
of the enemy had embarked ; and, regardless of a brisk fire 
kept up from a Kickapoo town on the opposite bank, they, 
in a few minutes, by a well directed fire from their rilies, de- 
stroyed all the savages with which live canoes were crowded. 
To my great mortification, the Wabash was many feet beyond 
fording at this place: I therefore detached Col. Wilkinson to a 
ford two miles above, which my guides informed me was more 
practicable. [Wilkinson moved the first battalion up to the 
fording place, found the river impassable, and returned to 
Ouiatenon.] 

The enemy still kept po.ssession of Kickapoo town : I de- 
termined to dislodge them ; and for that purpose ordered 
Captain King's and Logsdone's companies to march down the 
river below the town, and cross, under the conduct oi' Major 
Barboe. tSeveral of the men swam the river, and otheis pass- 
ed in a small canoe. This movement was unobserved ; and 
my men had taken post on the bank before they were discover- 
ed by the enemy, who immediately abandoned the village. 
About this time word was brought to me that Colonel Hardin 
was encumbered witli prisoners, and had discovered a stronger 
village further to my left than those I had observed, which he 
was proceeding to attack. 1 inunediatcly detached Captain 
Brow^n with his coujpany, to support the Colonel : but the 
distance being six miles, before the Captain arrived the busi- 
ness was done, and Colonel Hardin joined me a little before 



1791. Expedition of Wdkinsoji. 379 

sun-set, having killed six warriors, and taken fifty-two 
prisoners. Captain Bull, the warrior who discovered me in 
the morning, had gained the main town, and given the alarm, 
a short time before me ; but the villages to my left were un- 
informed of my approach, and had no retreat. 

The next morning I determined to detach my Lieutenant 
Colonel-commandant, with five hundred men, to destroy the 7 
important town of Keth-tip-e-ca-nunk,* eighteen miles from \ 
my camp, on the west side of the Wabash ; but, on examina- 
tion, I discovered my men and horses to be so crippled and 
worn down by a long, laborious march, and the active exer- 
tions of the preceding day, that three hundred and sixty men 
only could be found in a capacity to undertake the enterprise, 
and they prepared to march on foot. Col. Wilkinson marched 
with this detachment at half after five in the evening, and 
returned to my camp the next day at one o'clock, having 
marched thirty-six miles in twelv^e hours, and destroyed the 
most important settlement of the enemy in that quarter of the \ 
federal territory. 

Many of the inhabitants of the village [Ouiatenon] were 
French, and lived in a state of civilization. By the books, 
letters, and other documents found there, it is evident that 
place was in close connection with, and dependent on, Detroit. 
A large quantity of corn, a variety of household goods, pel- 
try, and other articles, were burned with this village, which 
consisted of about seventy houses, many of them well fin- 
ished. f 

As the expedition under Scott, although successful, had not 
reached the higher towns upon the Wabash, Governor St. 
Clair thought it best to send another, (the Secretary of War 
having authorized such a step,) against the villages of Eel \ 
river; and Wilkinson was appointed to command. He march- 
ed from near fort Washington, upon the first of August, andi 
on the 7th reached the Wabash, just above the mouth of the 
river he was in search of. While reconnoitering, however, in 
the hope of surprising the natives, word was brought him that 
they were alarmed and flying ; a general charge was imme- 
diately ordered. 

The men, says Wilkinson, forcing their way over every ob- \ 
.staole, plunged through the river with vast intrepiditv. The 
enemy was unable to make the smallest resistance. Six war- 
riors, and (in the hurry and confusion of the charge) two ;, 
.squaws and a child were killed, thirty-four prisoners were ta- \ 
ken, and an unfortunate captive released, with the loss of two 
men killed and one wounded. 

* This, in modern orthography, has been cornipted into Tippecanoe. — Ed. 
t American State Paper?, v. 131. 



380 Wilkinsoiis Expedition. 1791. 

I found this town scattered along Eel river for full three 
miles, on an uneven, scrubby oak barren, intersected alter- 
nately by bogs almost impassable, and impervious thickets of 
plum, hazel, and blackjacks. Notwithstanding these difficul- 
ties, if I n\ay credit the report of the prisoners, very few who 
were in town escaped. Expecting a second expedition, their 
goods were generally packed up and buried. Sixty warriors 
had crossed the Wabash to watch the paths leading from the 
Ohio. The head chief, with all the prisoners, and a number of 
families, were out digging a root which they substitute in the 
place of the potato ; and about one hour before my arrival, 
all the warriors, except eight, had mounted their horses, and 
rode up the river to a French store to purchase ammunition. 
This ammunition had arrived from the Miami village that very 
day, and the squaws informed me was stored about two miles 
from the town. I detached Major Caldwell in quest of it ; 
but he failed to make any discovery, although he scoured the 
country for seven or eight miles up the river. 

I encamped in the town that night, and the next morning I 
cut up the corn, scarcely in the milk, burnt the cabins, mounted 
the young warriors, squaws, and children, in the best manner 
in my power, and leaving two infirm squaws and a child, with 
a short talk, 1 commenced my march for the Kickapoo town in 
the prairie.* 

The Kickapoo prairie metropolis was not reached ; the 
horses were too sore, and the bogs too deep ; but as General 
Wilkinson said, lour hundred acres of corn were destroyed, 
and a Kickapoo town given to the flames ; for which the 
.General was duly thanked by his country. Meantime, while 
Procter was attempting to hurry the slow-moving Iioquois. 
who told him it took them a great while to think ; and Wil- 
kinson was floundering up to his arm-pits in mud and water, 
among the morasses oftlic Wabash; the needful preparations 
were constantly going forward for the great expedition of St. 
Clair, which, by founding posts throughout the western coun- 
try, from the Ohio to Lake Erie, and especially at the head of 
the Maumee, was to give the United States a sure means oi" 
control over the savages. At a very early period (1785) the 
admirable position of the Miami village at the junction of the 
St. Mary and St. Joseph, had struck Washington's sagacious 
mind, as we know from his correspondence;! and when Har- 
mar's expedition was undertaken, one purpose of it would, 
doubtless, have been the founding of a military post at the 

* American State Papers, v. 134. 
t Sparks' Wasbinglon, is. 109. 



1791. Instructions to St. Clair. 381 

Miami town, had it been compatible with the public finances.* 
But Harmar's defeat having proved the necessity of some 
strong check upon the northern savages, it became the main 
purpose of the effort of 1791, to build a fort at a point desig- 
nated, which was to be connected by other intermediate sta- 
tions, with Fort Washington and the Ohio. Of this we have 
proof in the language of the government after St. Clair's de- 
feat: "the great object of the late campaign," says General 
Knox, in his official report, dated December 2G, 1791, "was 
to establish a strong military post at the Miami village ;" 
and this language is used more than once.f This object, too, 
was to be attained, if possible, even at the expense of a con- 
test which might be otherwise avoided ; [for the posts were to 
be established, whether the Indians remained hostile or made 
peace,] but the instructions to St. Clair upon this and other 
points, we prefer to give in the clear and condensed lan- 
guage of Knox himself, omitting such portions only, as have 
not a bearing upon the general subject, and treat of details 
merely. 

The President of the United States having, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, appointed you a Major 
General in the service of the United States, and of conse- 
quence invested 3'ou with the chief command of the troops 
to be employed upon the frontiers during the ensuing cam- 
paign, it is proper that you should be possessed of the views of 
the government respecting the objects of your command. I 
am, therefore, authorized and commanded, by the President of 
the United States, to deliver you the follou^ing instructions, in 
order to serve as the general principles of your conduct. 

But, it is only general principles which can be pointed out. 
In the execution of the duties of your station, circumstances 
which cannot now be foreseen may arise to render material 
deviations necessary. Such circumstani es will require the 
exercise of your talents. The Government possesses the se- 
curity of your character and mature experience, that your 
judgment will be proper on all occasions. You are well in- 
formed of the unfavorable impressions which the issue of the 
last expedition has made on the public mind, and you are 
also aware of the expectations which are formed of the suc- 
cess of the ensuing campaign. 

An Indian war, under any circumstances, is regarded by the 
great mass of the people of the United States as an event 
which ought, if possible, to be avoided. It is considered that 

*Soe Kaox'd letter to St. Clair, September 12, 1790. American State Papers, v. 100. 
■f Americane Stat Papers, v. 197, 198. 



382 Instructmis io St. Clair. 1791. 

the sacrifice of blood and treasure in such a war exceed any 
advantages which can possibly be reaped by it. The great 
policy, therefore, of the General Government, is to establish 
a just and liberal peace with all the Indian tribes within the 
limits and in the vicinity of the territory of the United States. 
Your intimations to the hostile Indians, immediately after the 
late expedition, through the Wyandots and Uelawares; the 
arrangements Mith the Senecas who were lately in this city, 
that part of the Six Nations should repair to the said hostile 
Indians, to influence them to pacific measures; together with 
the recent mission of Colonel Procter to them for the same 
purpose, will strongly evince the desire of the General Gov- 
ernment to prevent the eflusion of blood, and to quiet all dis- 
turbances. And when you shall arrive upon the frontiers, if 
any other or farther measures to effect the same object should 
present, you will eagerly embrace them, and the reasonable 
expenses thereof shall be defrayed by the public. But, if all 
the lenient measures taken, or which may be taken, should 
fail to bring the hostile Indians to a just sense of their situa- 
tion, it will be necessary that you should use such coercive 
means as you shall possess, for that purpose. You are in- 
formed that, by an act of Congress, passed the 2d inst., 
another regiment is to be raised, and added to the military es- 
tablishment, and provision made for raising two thousand 
levies, for the term of six months, for the service of the fron- 
tiers. It is contemplated that the mass of the regulars and 
levies may be recruited and rendezvous at Fort Washington, 
by the 10th of July. In this case, you will have assembled a 
force of three thousand effectives at least, besides leaving 
small garrisons on the Ohio, in order to perform your main 
expedition, hereinafter mentioned. But, in the mean time, if 
the Indians refuse to listen to the messengers of peace sent to 
them, it is most probable they will, unless prevented, spread 
themselves along the line of frontiers, for the purpose of com- 
mitting all the depredations in their power. In order to avoid 
so calamitous an event, Brigadier General Charles Scott, of 
Kentucky, has been authorized by me, on the part of the 
President of the United States, to make an expedition against 
the Wea, or Ouiatenon towns, with mounted volunteers, or 
militia from Kentucky, not exceeding the number of seven 
hundred and fifty, officers included. You will perceive, by 
the instructions to Brigadier General Scott, that it is confided 
to your discretion, whether there should be more than one of 
the said expeditions of mounted volunteers or militia. Your 
nearer view of the objects to be effected, by a second desul- 
tory expedition, will enable you to form a better judgment 
than can at present be formed, at this distance. The pro- 
priety of a second operation would, in some degree, depi-nd 
on the alacrity and good compossition of the troops of which 



1791. Instructions to St. Clair. 383 

the first may have been formed ; of its success ; of the proba- 
ble effects a second similar blow would have upon the Indians, 
with respect to its influencing them to peace ; or, if they 
should be still hostilely disposed, of preventing them from 
desolating the frontiers by their parties. 

You will observe, in the instructions to Brigadier General 
Scott, which are to serve as a basis for the instructions of the 
commanders who may succeed him, that all captives are to be 
treated with great humanit3\ It will be sound policy to at- 
tract the Indians by kindness, after demonstrating to them our 
power to punish them, on all occasions. While you are 
making such use of desultory operations as in your judgment 
the occasionjnay require, you will proceed vigorously, in every 
operation in your power, for the purpose of the main expedi- 
tion ; and having assembled your force, and all things being in 
readiness, if no decisive indications of peace should have been 
produced, either by the messenger, or by the desultory opera- 
tions, you will commence your march ibr the Miami village, 
in order to establish a strong and permanent military post at 
that place. In your advance, you will establish such posts of 
communication with Fort Washington, on the Ohio, as you 
may judge proper. The post at the Miami village is intended 
for the purpose of awing and curbing the Indians in that 
quarter, and as the only preventive of future hostilities. It 
ought, therefore, to be rendered secure against all attempts 
and insults of the Indians. The garrison which should be sta- 
tioned there ought not only to be sufficient for the defence of 
the place, but always to afford a detachment of five or six* 
hundred men, either to chastise any of the Wabash, or other 
hostile Indians, or to secure any convoy of provisions. The 
establishment of such a post is considered as an important 
object of the campaign, and is to take place in all events. In 
case of a previous treaty, the Indians are to be conciliated 
upon this point, if possible ; and it is presumed, good argu- 
ments may be offered, to induce their acquiescence. The 
situation, nature, and construction of the works you may di- 
rect, will depend upon your own judgment. Major Ferguson, 
of the artillery, will be fully capable of the execution. He 
will be furnished with three five and a half inch howitzers, 
three six pounders, and three three-pounders, all brass, with a 
sufficient quantity of shot and shells, for the purpose of the 
expedition. The appropriation of these pieces will depend 
upon your orders. 

Having commenced your march, upon the main expedition, 
and the Indians continuing hostile, you will use every possible 
exertion to make them feel the effects of your superiority ; 
and after having arrived at the Miami village, and put your 
works in a defensible state, you will seek the enemy with the 
whole of your remaining force, and endeavor, by all possible 



384 Instructions to St. Clair. 1891. 

means, to strike them with great severity. It will be left to 
your discretion whether to employ, if attainable, any Indians 
ol' the Six jNations, and the Chickasavvs or other southern Na- 
tions. Most probably the employment of abcut fifty of each, 
under the direction of some discreet and able chief, would be 
advantageous, but these ought not to be assembled before the 
line of march is taken up, because they are soon tired and 
will not be detained. The force contemplated for the garri- 
sons of the Miami village, and the communications, has been 
from a thousand to twelve hundred non-commissioned officers 
and privates. This is mentioned as a general idea, to which 
you will adhere, or from which you will deviate, as circum- 
stances may require. The garrison stationed at the Miami 
village, and its communications, must have in store at least 
six months good salted meat, and (lour in proportion. 

It is hardly possible, if the Indians continue hostile, that you 
will be suffered quietly to establish a post at the Miami vil- 
lage ; conllicts, therefore, may be expected ; and it is to be 
presumed that disciplined valor will triumph over the undisci- 
plined Indians. In this event it is probable that the Indians 
will sue for peace ; if this should be the case, the dignity of 
the United States will require that the terms should be liberal. 
In order to avoid future wars, it might be proper to make the 
Wabash, and thence over to the Miami, and down the same 
to its mouth at Lake Erie, the boundary, excepting so for as 
the same should relate to the Wyandots and Delawares, on 
the supposition of their continuing faithful to the treaties. 
But, if they should join in the war against the United States, 
and your army be victorious, the said tribes ought to be re- 
moved without the boundary mentioned. You will also judge 
whether it would be proper to extend the boundary, from the 
mouth of the Iliver au Pause of the Wabash, in a due west 
line to the Mississippi. Few hidians, besides the Ivickapoos, 
would be affected by such a line : this ought to be tenderly 
managed. The modification of the bound aiy must be confid- 
ed to your discretion, with this single observatioi, that the 
policy and interest of the United States dictate their being at 
peace with the Indians. This is of more value than millions 
of uncultivated acres, the right to which ma}' be conceded by 
some, and disputed by others. The establishment of a post 
at the Miami village will probably be regarded, by the British 
officers on the frontiers, as a circumstance of jealousy : it may, 
therefore, be necessary that you should, at a proper time, 
make such intimations as may remove all such dispositions. 
This intimation had better follow than precede the possession 
of the post, unless circumstances dictate otherwise. As it is 
not the inclination or interest-of the United States to enter 
into a contest with Great Britain, every measure tending to 
any discushion or altercation must be orevented. The delicate 



1791. Instructions to St. Clair. 385 

situation of aflairs maj'^, therefore, render it improper, at pre- 
sent, to make any naval arrangement upon Lake Erie. After 
you shall have eflected all the injury to the hostile Indians of 
which your force may be capable, and after havinj^ established 
the posts and garrisons at the Miami village and its communi- 
cations, and placing the same under the orders of an oflicer 
worthy of such high trust, you will return to Fort Washington 
on the Ohio. 

It is proper to observe, that certain jealousies ha\e ex'sted 
among the people of the frontiers, relative to a supposed in- 
terference between their interest, and those of the marine 
States; that these jealousies are ill-founded, with respect to 
the present Government, is obvious. The United States em- 
brace, with equal care, all parts of the Union ; and, in the 
present case, are making expensive arrangements for the pro- 
tection of the frontiers, and partly in the modes, too, which 
appear to be highl}^ favored by the Kentucky people. 

The high stations you fill, of commander of the troops, and 
Governor of the Western Territor}^ will allbrd you fi-equent 
opportunities to impress the frontier citizens of the entire 
good disposition of the General Government towards them in 
all reasonable things, and you will render acceptable service, 
by cordially embracing all such opportunities.* 

Under these instructions St. Clair proceeded to organize his , 
army. At the close of April he was in Pittsburgh, toward 
which point troops from all quarters, horses, stores and am- 
munition, were going forward. The forces, it was thought, 
would be assembled by the last of .Tuly or first of August. \ 
By the middle of July, however, it was clear that the early 
part of September would be as soon as the expedition could 
get under way ; hut the commander was urged to press every 
thing, and act with the utmost promptness and decision. But 
this was more easily urged than accomplished. On the 15th of 
May, St. Clair had reached Fort Washington, and at that time,? 
the United States' troops in the West amounted to hut two 
hundred and sixty-four non-commissioned oflicers and privates 
fit for duty ; [of these seventy-five were at Fort Washington, 
forty-five at Fort Harmar, sixty-one at Fort Steuben, and 
eighty-three at Fort Knox.] On the 15th of July this number 
was more than doubled, however, as the first regiment, con- 
taining two hundred and ninety-nine men, on that day reached 
Fort Washington. General Butler, who had been appointed 
second in command, was employed through part of April and 
May in obtaining recruits; but when obtained, there was no 

* American State Papers, v. 171. 



386 Si. Clair marches into the Interior. 1791. 

money to pay them, nor to provide stores for them. In the 
quorter-masters department, meantime, everything went on 
slowly and badly ; tents, pack-saddles, kettles, knapsacks, and 
cartridge boxes were all "deficient in quantity and quality." 
Worse than this, the powder was poor or injured, the arms 
and accoutrements out of repair, and not even proper tools 
to mend them.* [Of six hundred and seventy five stand 
of arms at Fort Washington, (designed by St. Clair for the 
militia) scarcely any were in ordei- ; and with two travel- 
ing forges furnished by the quarter-master, there were 
no anvils. See American State Papers, xii. 36, 37.] And 
as the troops gathered slowly at Fort Washington, after 
wearisome detentions at Pittsburgh and upon the river, 
a new source of troubles arose, in the habits of intemperance 
indulged and acquired by the idlers; to withdraw them from 
temptation, St. Clair was forced to remove his men, now 
numbering two thousand, to Ludlow's station, about six miles 
from the Fort : by which, however, he more than doubled his 
cost of providing ibr the troops.f Here the army continued 
until September 17th, when, being two thousand three hun- 
dred strong, (including the garrisons of Forts Washington and 
Hamilton) exclusive of militia, it moved forward to a point 
upon the Great Miami, where Fort Hamilton was built, the 
first in the proposed chain of fortresses. This being completed, 
the troops moved on forty-four miles farther, and on the 12th 
of October commenced Fort JeflTerson, about six miles south 
of the town of Greenville, Darke county. On the 24th the 
toilsome march through the wilderness began again. At 
this time the commander-in-chief, whose duties through the 
summer had been very severe, was sufiVring from an indispo- 
sition which was by turns in his stomach, lungs and limbs ; 
provisions were scarce, the roads wet and heavy, the troops 
going with "much difiiculty," seven miles a day; the militia 
deserting sixty at a time. J Thus toiling along, the army, 
rapidly lessening by desertion, sickness, and troops sent to 
arrest deserters, on the 3d of November reached a stream 
rT;welve yards wide, which St. Clair supposed to be the 

•Proofs of all the.^e facts are found in the American State Papers, vol. v. 26, 37, 42 
171, 176, 179, ISO.— [Ed. 

fAinerican State Papers, xii. 37. 

+St. Clair's Journal. (American State Paperi, r. 136-7) 



1791. Defeat of St. Clair. ^ 387 

St. Mary of the Maumee, but which was in realit}' a branch 
of the Wabash, just south of the head waters of the stream 
for which the commander mistook it. Upon the banks of 
this creek, the army, now about fourteen hundred strong, en- 
camped in two lines. 

The right wing, says St. Clair, in his letter to the Secretary 
of War, after the battle, composed of Ikitler's, Clark's and 
Patterson's battalions, commanded by IMajor General Butler, 
formed the first line ; and the left wing, consisting of Bedin- 
ger's and Gaither's battalions, and the second regiment, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Colonel Darke, formed the second line, 
with an interval between them of about seventy yards, 
which was all the ground would allow. The right flank was 
pretty well secm"ed by the creek; a steep bank, and Faulk- 
ner's corps, some of the cavalry, and their picquets, covered 
the left flank. The militia were thrown over the creek, and 
advanced about a quarter of a mile, and encamped in the 
same order. There were a few Indians who appeared on 
the opposite side of the creek, but fled M'ith the utmost pre- 
cipitation, on the advance of the militia. At this place, 
which I judged to be about fifteen miles from the Miami vil- 
lage, I determined to throw up a slight work, the plan of 
which was concerted that evening with Major Ferguson, 
wherein to have deposited the men's knapsacks, and every 
thing else that was not of absolute necessity, and to have 
moved on to attack the enemy as soon as the first regiment was 
come up. But they did not permit me to execute either; for, 
on the 4th, about half an hour before sunrise, and when the 
men had just been dismissed from parade, (for it was a con- 
stant practice to have them all under arms a considerable 
time before day-light,) an attack was made upon the militia. 
Those gave way in a very little time and rushed into camp 
through Major Butler's battalion, (which, together with a part 
of Clark's they threw into considerable disorder, and which, 
notwithstanding the exertions of both those oflicers, was 
never altogether remedied,) the" Indians following close at 
their heels. The fire, however, of the front line checked 
them ; but almost instantly a very heavy attack began upon 
that line ; and in a few minutes it was extended to the second 
likewise. The great weight of it was directed against the 
centre of each, where the artillery was placed, and from 
which the men were repeatedly driven with great slaughter. 
Finding no great eflect from our fire, and confusion beginning 
to spread from the great number of men who were falling in 
all quarters, it became necessary to try what could be done by 
the bayonet. Lieutenant Colonel Darke was accordingly or- 
dered to make a charge with apart of the second line, and to 



388 Defeat of St. Clair. 1791. 

' turn the left flank of the enemy. This was executed with 
great spirit. The Indians instantly gave way, and were 
driven back three or four hundred yards; but for want of a 

/ sufficient number of rillemen to pursue this advantage, they 
soon returned, and the troops were obliged to give hack in 
their turn. At this moment they had entered our camp by 
the left flank, having pushed back the troops that were posted 
there. Another charge was made here by the second regi- 
)ment, Butler's and Clark's battalions, with equal effect, and 
it was repeated several times and always with success; but 

( in all of them many men were lost, and particularly the ofii- 
'cers, which, with so raw troops, was a loss altogether irreme- 
diable. In that I just spoke of, made by the second regiment 
and Butler's battalion, iMajor Butler was dangerously wound- 
ed, and every oflicer of the second regiment fell except 
three, one of which, Mv. Greaton, was shot through the body. 
Our artillery being now silenced, and all the officers killed 
except Captain Ford, who was very badly wounded, and more 
than half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, it 
became necessary to attempt the regaining it, and to make a 
retreat if possible. To this purpose the remains of the army 
was formed as well as circumstances would admit, towards 
the right of the encam])mcnt, from which, by the way of 
the second line, another charge was made upon the enemy, 
as if with the design to turn their right flank, but in fact, to 
gain the road. This was eflected, and as soon as it was open, 
the militia took along it, followed by the troops; Maj. Clark, 
with his battalion, covering the rear. 

The retreat, in those circumstances, was, as you may be 
sure, a very precipitate one. It was, in fact, a flight. The 

■ camp and the artillery were abandoned ; but that was una- 
voidable ; for not a horse was left alive to have drawn it off', 
had it otherwise been practicable. But the most disgraceful 
part of the business is, that the greatest part of the men threw 
away their arms and accoutrements, even after the pursuit, 
which continued about four miles, had ceased. I found the 
road strewed witii them for many miles, but was not able to 
remedy it ; for, liaving had all my horses killed, and being 
mount ed upon one that could not be pricked out of a walk, I 
could not get forward myself; and the orders I sent forward 
either to halt the front, or to prevent the men from parting 
with their arms, were unattended to. The rout continued 
quite to Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles, which was reached 
a little after sun-setting. The action began about half an 
hour before sunrise, and the retreat was attempted at half an 
hour after nine o'clock. I have not yet been abb; to get re- 
turns of the killed and wounded ; but Major General Butler, 
Lieutenant Colonel OUlham, of the militia. Major Ferguson, 
Major ijart, anJ Major Clark, are among the former : Colo- 



179 1 . Defeat of St. Clair. 389 

nel Sargent, my Adjutant General, Lieutenant Colonel Darke, 
Lieutenant Colonel Gibson, Major Butler, and the Viscount 
Malartie, who served me as Aid-de-camp, are among the lat- 
ter; and a great number of captains and subalterns in both. 
1 have now, sir, finished my melancholy tale — a tale that 
will be felt sensibly by every one that has sympathy for pri- 
vate distress, or for public misfortune. 1 have nothing, sir, to 
lay to the charge of the troops, but their want of discipline, 
which, from the short time they had been in service, it was 
impossible they should have acquired, and which rendered it 
very difficult, when they were thrown into confusion, to reduce 
them again to order, and is one reason why the loss has fallen 
so heavy on the officers, who did every thing in their power to 
effect it. Neither were my own exertions wanting : but, worn 
down with illness, and suffering under a painful disease, un- 
able either to mount or dismount a horse without assistance, 
they were not so great as they otherwise would, and perhaps 
ought to have been. We were overpowered by numbers ; but 
it is no more than justice to observe, that, though composed 
of so many different species of troops, the utmost harmony 
prevailed through the whole army during the campaign. At 
Fort Jefferson I found the first regiment, which had returned 
from the service they had been sent upon, without either over- 
taking the deserters, or meeting the convoy of provisions. I 
am not certain, sir, whether I ought to consider the absence of 
this regiment from the field of action, as fortunate or other- 
wise. I incline to think it was fortunate : for, 1 very much 
doubt whether, had it been in the action, the fortune of the 
day had been turned; and, if it had not, the triumph of the 
enemy would have been more complete, and the country 
would have been destitute of every means of defence. Takii)g 
a view of the situation of our broken troops at Fort Jefferson, 
and that there was no provisions in the Fort, I called upon the 
field officers, viz : Lieutenant Colonel Darke, Major Ham- 
tramck, Major Zeigler, and Major Gaither, together with the 
Adjutant General, [VVinthrop Sargent,] for their advice what 
would be proper further to be done ; and it was their unani- ^j 
mous opinion, that the addition of the first regiment, un- 
broken as it was, did not put the army on so respectable a 
foot as it was in the morning, because a great part of it was now 
unarmed ; that it had been found unequal to the enemy, and 
should they come on, which was possible, would be- found so 
again ; that the troops could not be thrown into the fort, both 
because it was too small, and that there were no provisions in 
it; that provisions were known to be on the road, at the dis- 
tance of one, or at most two marches; that, therefore^ it would 
be more proper to move without loss of time, to meet the pro- 
visions, when the men might have the sooner an opportunity 
of some refreshment, and that a proper detachment might be 



390 Defeat of St. Clair. 1791. 

sent back with it, to have it safely deposited in the fort. This 
advice was accepted, and the army was put in motion at ten 
o'clock, and marched all night, and the succeeding day met 
with a quantity of Hour. Part of it was distributed immedi- 

^ ately, part taken back to supply the army on the march to 
Fort Hamilton, and the remainder, about fifty horse loads, 
sent forward to Fort Jefferson. The next day a drove of 
cattle was met with for the same place, and 1 have informa- 
tion that both got in. The wounded, who had been left at 
that place, were ordered to be brought to Fort Washington 
by the return horses. 

I have said, sir, in a former part of this letter, that we were 
overpowered by numbers. Of that, however, I have no other 
evidence but the weight of the fire, which was always a most 
deadly one, and generally delivered from the ground — few of 
the enemy show^i ng themselves afoot, except when they were 
charged ; and that, in a few minutes our whole camp, which 
extended above three hundred and fifty yards in length, was 
entirely surrounded and attacked on all quarters. The loss, 
sir, the public has sustained by the fall of so many officers, 
particularly General Butler and Major Ferguson, cannot be 
too much regretted ; but it is a circumstance that \\'\\\ alle- 
viate the misfortune in some measure, that all of them fell 
most gallantly doing their duty. 1 have had very pai-ticular 
obligations to many of them, as \vell as to the survivors, 
but to none more than Colonel Sargent. He has discharged 
the various duties of his ofiice with zeal, with exactness, and 
with intelligence, and on all occasions afforded me ever)' as- 
sistance in his power, which I have also experienced from my 

;; Aid-de-camp, Lieutenant Denny, and the Viscount Malartie, 
'who served with me in the station as a volunteer.* 

[To this official account of the commander, we add the fol- 
lowing sketch by Benjamin Van Cleve, who was in the Quar- 
ter-master General's service on the occasion ; so that he 
fought as a volunteer. Mr. Van Cleve was a resident of Cin- 
i ciunati, early in 1790; removed to Dayton in 1797, and during 
the principal part of his life, kept a journal or memoranda of 
the events that transpired. This sketch vividly poi-trays the 
confusion of the battle and flight f] 

On the fourth [of November] at daybreak, I began to pre- 
pare for returning, [to Fort Washington] and had got about 
half my luggage on my horse, when the firing commenced. 
We were encamped just within the lines, on the right. The 
attack was made on the Kentucky militia. Almost instanta- 

* American State Papers, v. 137. 
■f American Pioneer, ii. 148—153. 



1791. Defeat of St . Clair. 39 1 

neously the small remnant of them that escaped broke ^ 
through the Hne near us, and this line gave way. Followed 
by a tremendous fire from the enemy, they passed me. I 
threw my bridle over a stump, from which a tent pole had 
been cut, and followed a short distance, when finding the 
troops had halted, I returned and brought my horse a 
little farther. I was now between the fires, and finding the 
troops giving way again, was obliged to leave him a second 
time. As I quitted him he was shot down, and 1 felt rather 
glad of it, as I concluded that now I should be at liberty to 
share in the engagement. My inexperience prompted me to 
calculate on our forces being far superior to any that the sav- 
ages could assemble, and that we should soon have the 
pleasure of driving them. Not more than five minutes had 
yet elapsed, when a soldier near me had his arm swinging 
with a wound. I requested his arms and accoutrements, as 
he was unable to use them, promising to return them to him. 
and commenced firing. The smoke was settled down to 
about within three feet of the ground, but I generally put one 
knee on the ground, and with a rest from behind a tree, 
waited the appearance of an Indian's head from behind his 
cover, or for one to run and change his position. Before I 
was convinced of my mistaken calculations, the battle was 
half over, and I had become familiarized to the scene. Hear- 
ing the firing at one time unusually brisk near the rear of the 
left wing, I crossed the encampment. Two levy officers were 
just ordering a charge. I had fired away my ammunition, and 
some of the bands of my musket had flown off. I picked up 
another, and a cartridge box nearly full, and pushed forward 
with about thirty others. The Indians ran to the right, where 
there was a small ravine filled with logs. I bent n^y course 
after them,' and on looking round, I found I was with only ' 
seven or eight men, the others having kept straight forward, 
and halted about thirty yards off. We halted also, and being 
so near where the savages lay concealed, the second fire from 
them, left me standing alone. My cover was a small sugar 
tree or beech, scarcely large enough to hide me. I fired away 
all my ammunition ; lam uncertain whether with any effect or 
not. 1 then looked for the party near me, and saw^ them re- 
treating and half way back to the lines. 1 followed them, 
running my best, and was soon in. By this time our artillery 
had been taken, I do not know whether the first or second 
time, and our troops had just retaken it, and were charging 
the enemy across the creek in front; and some person told me 
to look at an Indian running with one of our kegs of pow- 
der, but I did not see him. There were about thirty of our 
men and officers lying scalped 'around the pieces of artillery. 
It appeared that the Indians had not been in a hurry, for 
their hair was all skinned off. 



392 Defeat of St. Clair. 1791. 

Daniel Bouham, a young man raised by my uncle, and 
brought up with me, and whom I regarded as a brother, had 
by this time received a shot through his hips, and was unable 
to walk. I procured a horse and got him on. My uncle had 
received a ball near his wi-ist that lodged near his elbow. 
\ The ground was literally covered with dead and dying men, 
' the commander gave orders to take the way — perhaps 
they had been given more explicitly. Happening to see 
my uncle, he told me that a retreat had been ordered, and 
that I must do the best I could, and take care of myself. 
Bonhani insisted that he had a better chance of escaping 
than I had, and urged me to look to my own safety alone. 1 
( found the troops pressing like a drove of bullocks to the 
right. I saw an officer whom I took to be Lieutenant Mor- 
gan, an aid to General Butler, with six or eight men, start 
on a run a little to the left of where I was. I immediately 
ran and fell in with them. In a short distance we were so 
suddenly among the Indians, who were not apprised of our 
object, that they opened to us, and ran to the right and left 
without firing. I think about two hundred of our men passed 
through them before they fired, except a chance shot. When 
we had proceeded about two miles, most of those mounted 
had passed me. A boy had been thrown or fell oif a horse, 
and begged my assistance. I ran, pulled him along about two 
miles further, until I had become nearly exhausted. Of the 
last two horses in the rear, one carried two men, and the 
other three. I inade an exertion and threw him on behind 
the two men. The Indians followed but about half a mile fur- 
ther. The boy was thrown ofl* some time after, but escaped 
and got in safely. My friend Bonham I did not see on the 
retreat, but understood he was thrown off about this place, 
and lay on the left of the trace, where he was found in 
the winter and was buried. I took the cramp violently in 
my thighs, and could scarcely walk until I got within a 
hundred yards of the rear, where the Indians were toma- 
hawking the old and wounded men ; and I stopped here 
to tie my pocket handkerchief round a wounded man's knee. 
1 saw the Indians close in pursuit at this time, and for a mo- 
ment my spirit sunk, and 1 felt in despair for my safety. I 
considered whether I should leave the road, or whether I was 
capable of any further exertion. If I left the road, the In- 
dians were in plain sight and coulJ easily overtake me. I 
threw the .shoes off my feet, and the coolness of the ground 
seemed to revive me. I again began a trot, and recollect 
that when a bend in the road offered, and I got before half a 
dozen persons, 1 thought it would occupy some time for the 
enemy to massacre them, before my turn would come. By 
the time I had got to Stillwater, about eleven miles, I had 
gained the centre of the flying troops, and, Hke them came to 



1791. Defeat of St. Clair. 393 

a walk. I fell in with Lieutenant Shaumburg, who, I think, 
was the only officer of artillery that got away unhurt, with 
corporal Mott, and a woman who was called red-headed 
Nance. The latter two were both crying-. Mott was lament- 
ing the loss of a wife, and Nance that of an infant child. 
Shaumburg was nearly exhausted, and hung on Mott's arm. 
I carried his fusil and accoutrements, and led Nance; and in 
this sociable way we arrived at Fort Jeiferson a little after 
sunset. 

The commander-in-chief had ordered Colonel Darke to 
press forward to the convoys of provisions, and hurry them on 
to the army. Major Truman, Captain Sedan and my uncle 
were setting forward with him. A number of soldiers, and 
pack-horsemen on foot, and myself among them, joined them. 
We came on a few miles, when all, overcome with fatigue, 
agreed to halt. Darius Curtius Orcutt, a pack-horse master, 
had stolen, at Jeflerson, one pocket full of flour and the other 
full of beef. One of the men had a kettle, and one Jacob 
Fowler and myself groped about in the dark, until we found 
some water, where a ti-ee had been blown out of root. We 
made a kettle of soup, of which I got a small portion among 
the many. It was then concluded, as there was a bend in the 
road a few miles farther on, that the Indians might undertake 
to intercept us there, and we decamped and travelled about 
four or five miles further. I had got a rifle and ammunition 
at Jeflerson, from a wounded militia-man, an old acquaint- 
ance, to bring in. A sentinel was set, and we lay down and 
slept, until the governor came up a few hours afterward. I 
think I never slept so profoundly. I could hardly get awake, 
after I was on my feet. On the day before the defeat, the 
ground was covered with snow. The flats were now filled 
with water frozen over, the ice as thick as a knife-blade. I 
was worn out with fatigue, with my feet knocked to pieces 
against the roots in the night, and splashing through the ice- 
without shoes. In the morning, we got to a camp of pack- 
horsemen, and amongst them I got a doughboy or water- 
dumpling, and proceeded. We got within seven miles of 
Hamilton on this day, and arrived there soon on the morning 
of the sixth. 

Thus were all the plans, hopes, and labors of Washington, 
Knox and St. Clair, in reference to the Indian campaign, in 
one day, overthrown. The savages, again victorious, could 
neither be expected to make terms or exercise forbearance ; 
and along the whole line of the frontier there were but few 
that did not feel anxiety, terror, or despair. 

We give in illustration the following. — Representation from 
the inhabitants of the town of Pittsburg, dated, Pittsburg, De- 
25 



394 Effect of St. Clair's Defeat. 1790. 

cember lllh, 1791 — Sir: In consequence of the late intelli- 
gence of the fate of the campaign to the Westward, the 
inhabitants of the town of Pittsburg have convened, and 
appointed us a committee for the purpose of addressing your 
Excellency. The late disaster of the army must greatly eli'ect 
the safety of this place. There can be no doubt but that the 
enemy will now come forward, and with more spirit, and 
greater numbers, than they ever did before, for success will 
give confidence and secure allies. 

We seriously apprehend that the Six Nations, heretofore 
•wavering, will now avow themselves ; at least, their young 
men will come to war. Be that as it may, the Indians at 
present hostile, are well acquainted with the defenceless 
situation of this town. During the late war there was a gar- 
rison at this place, though, even then, there w^as not such a 
combination of the savage nations, nor so much to be dreaded 
from them. At present, we have neither garrison, arms, nor 
ammunition to defend the place. If the enemy should be dis- 
posed to pursue the blow they have given, which it is morally 
certain they \vill, they would, in our situation, find it easy to 
destroy us ; and, should this place be lost, the whole country 
is open to them, and must be abandoned. — (A. Tannehill and 
others, to the Governor of Pennsylvania.) 

Memorial from the inhabitants of the counties of Westmoreland, 
Washington, Fayette, and Allegheny, to the Governor of Penn- 
sylvania : — To his Excellency Thomas iMifllin, Esq., Governor 
of the State of Pennsylvania: — Your Excellency is well aware 
of the great extent of our frontier ; and, when you consider 
the high degree of spirit which the savages, animated by two 
successive victories, entertain, you may more easily conceive, 
than we can describe, the fears which pervade the breasts of 
those men, women and children, who are more immediately 
subject to their barbarities and depredations. Had the peo- 
ple a sullicicncy of arms in their hand:?, they might, in some 
measure, defend themselves until the General Government, to 
wdiose care the common defence is entrusted, should adopt 
efficient steps for that purpose. At the same time, we beg 
leave to state to your Excellency, what occurs to us as the 
most speedy and effectual mode. When the extent of coun- 
try to be protected is taken into view, we conceive that eight 
hundred effective men will not be deemed more than .suf- 
ficient. They should be active jjartisans, under experienced 
officers, and provided with good riffes, to suit the grand object 
of meeting the enemy upon equal terms; of scouting, and 
t'iving the alarm when needful. Such a body should have 
encouragement proportioned to the j)rice of common labor in 
this country, which averages fifty shillings per month, as the 
pay allowed to the troops of the United States would not be a 



1790 Effect of St. Clair's Defeat. 395 

sufficient inducement to able-bodied men, possessing the requi- 
site qualifications. We suggest these general ideas from our 
knowledge of local circumstances, which they who are at a 
distance, unacquainted with the actual situation of the wes- 
tern country, cannot so well perceive. It is not our wish to 
enter into a minute detail, being convinced that your Excel- 
lency is not only fully acquainted with, but leelingly alive to, 
those impressions, which a state, such as ours, must give rise 
to ; nor can we apply to any person more proper than your- 
self to procure that assistance which it requires. 

From the Representatives of the County of Ohio to the 
Governor of Virginia : — Sir : The alarming intelligence lately 
received, of the defeat of the army in the western country, 
fills our minds with dreadful fears and apprehensions, con- 
cerning the safety of our fellow-citizens in the country we re- 
present, and we confidently hope will be an excuse to your 
Excellency, whose zeal has been so frequently evinced in be- 
half of the distressed frontier counties, for the request we are 
now compelled to make. In the course of last year, upwards 
of fifty of our people were killed, and a great part of our 
country plundered, notwithstanding the aid afforded by the 
Pennsylvanians, who joined the Virginians in our defence. 
The success of the Indians in their late engagement with Gen- 
eral St. Clair, will, no doubt, render them more daring and 
bold in their future incursions and attacks upon our defence- 
less inhabitants; those adjoining the county of Harrison, ex- 
tending a hundred miles ; covering the county of Monongalia ; 
and we conceive that not less than sixty or seventy men will 
be sufficient to defend them. Through you, sir, we beg leave 
to request this assistance. (American State Papers, v, 215. 
216. 222.) 

[In Braddock's defeat, of one thousand two hundred men, • 
there were seven hundred and fourteen killed and wounded. 
In St. Clair's defeat, put of fourteen hundred men, eight hun- 
dred and ninety were killed and wounded. Braddock's 
officers were eighty-six in number, of which sixty-three were 
killed and wounded. St. Clair had from eighty-six to ninety 
officers, of which sixteen were killed and wounded. In its 
effects, this was like a second Braddock's defeat. How was it 
in its causes '!'[ General Knox assigned as the chief reasons of 
St. Clair's overthrow — first, the deficiency of good troops : 
second, the want of appropriate training among those he (St. 
Clair) had : third, the lateness of the season.* The committee 
of the House of Representatives which examined the matter, 

* Amerioaa State Papers, v. 198. 



396 Effect of St. Clair's Defeat. 1791. 

upon the 8th of May, 1792, reported the causes of the catas- 
trophe of the previous November to have been, in their opin- 
ion — first, the delay in preparing estimates, &c., for the de- 
fence of the frontiers, and the late passage of the Act (March 
3d,) for that purpose : second, the delay caused by the neglect 
in the Quartermaster's department : third, the lateness of the 
season when the expedition was commenced : and, fourth, the 
want of discipline and experience in the troops. This Com- 
mittee, also, expressly declared General St. Clair free of all 
blame in relation to everything, both before and during the 
action.* Will the causes thus assigned fully explain the de- 
feat ? In answer it may be observed, even by one wholly 
ignorant of military matters, that the late passage of an act 
of Congress — the want of proper measures by the Quarter- 
master, and the lateness of the season, were obviously not 
among the leading causes of the rout of November 4th, 
1791 ; these things might have prevented the accomplishment 
of the plan for erecting a fort at the Miami village, even had 
St. Clan- been victorious on that day, but they did not cause 
his defeat. Was it, then, the want of good troops ? We think 
a re-perusal of the General's letter will show that his troops 
were not w^orthless by any means. The action began about 
half an hour before sun-rise, on the fourth of November, and 
lasted until half-past nine in the morning. This could not 
have been the case with undisciplined troops, unless they had 
possessed, at least, the raw material of soldiers, and had been 
men who, well situated, would have done well. However 
much, then, the troops may have been wanting in a proper 
training, it seems clear to us that this alone would not explain 
the fortune of the day unless the enemy had been present in 
overwhelming numbers ; and such was not probably the case, 
the best evidence we have going to show that the Indians 
were but about one thousand in number,! ^vhile the Americans 
were fourteen hundred. Leaving then the reasons officially 
assigned, we suggest that, to the reader ignorant of military 
science, it seems that two striking causes of the melancholy 
result are unnoticed by the Secretary of War and the Com- 

* American State Papers, xii. 33, 39. 

t American State Papers, xii. 37.— The Secretary of War in December, 1791, estimated 
the Indians at three thousand, but the Committee of the following May, having his and 
other eTidence,cut the number down to 104.0.— American State Pai)ers,T. 19S,— American 
Stat« Papers, xii, 44. 



1791. Causes of St. Clair's Defeat. 397 

mittee of Congress, viz. : the surprise by the Indians, who 
were in no degree expected by the army ; and the confusion 
introduced at the outset by the flying militia. Had the 
attack been expected, the troops prepared, all chance of con- 
fusion avoided, and had the very able officers who command- 
ed been obeyed — with all the disadvantages of raw troops, 
the event might have been, probably would have been, wholly 
diff*erent- We are, then, led to ask, how it happened that the 
troops were surprised — were proper measures taken to guard 
against surprise ? The militia, as St. Clair says, were a quar- 
ter of a mile in advance of the main army, and beyond the 
creek ; still farther in advance was Captain Slough, who, 
with a volunteer party of regulars, went out to reconnoitre ; 
and orders had been given Colonel Oldham, who commanded 
the militia, to have the woods thoroughly examined by the 
scouts and patrols, as Indians were known to be hanging 
about the outskirts of the army. In all this St. Clair seems to 
have done his entire dut}', as far as sickness would permit him ; 
could he have seen in person to the essential steps it would 
have been better. During the night Captain Slough, who 
was a mile beyond the militia, found so large a body of sava- 
ges gathering about him, that he fell back and reported his 
observations to General Butler. But the General, for reasons 
unexplained, made no dispositions in consequence of this in- 
formation, and did not report it to the Commander-in-chief. 
Colonel Oldham also obeyed his orders, the woods were 
searched, and the presence of the enemy detected, but he, too, 
reported, through Captain Slough, to General Butler, bej'ond 
whom the information did not go. 

[There is evidence in the various documents that there was 
a misunderstanding between Generals St. Clair and Butler 
during the campaign. The latter was killed in the battle, or 
that part of his conduct which is involved in mystery might 
have been explained. Various stories have obtained circu- 
lation about the manner and circumstances of his death. 

A paper from John Johnson, published in Cist's Miscellany, 
(ii. 299,) states that he was killed by his own son, a half-breed 
Shawanee chief, which we think is more than improbable. 
Mr. Stone, in his life of Brant, (ii. 310,) says he was badly 
wounded, and being left on the field, implored Simon Girty to 
kill him, but he refused, and an Indian put him out of pain; 



398 Causes of the Defeat of St. Clair. 1791. 

taking his scalp and heart as trophies. Mann Butler, Esq., 
states (History of Kentucky, 204,) on what authority we do 
not exactly perceive, that an Indian "at the sacrifice of his 
own life, darted into the camp and tomahawked and scalped 
Major General Butler while his wounds were dressing, though 
the Indian was instantly put to death." Another statgnent 
in Cist's Miscellany (ii. 31) by J. Matson, is, that he belonged. 
to a party sent back by General Wilkinson the following win- 
ter to the battle field, where they found, as they thought, 
Butler's body "in the thickest of the carnage." 

In the "Narrative" by St. Clair (p. 221) Colonel Semple de- 
poses, that he saw four soldiers putting General Butler in a 
blanket after he fell. 

When such conflicting statements exist concerning the cir- 
cumstances of the death of the distinguished officer who was 
second in command, we cannot expect accuracy in tracing the 
causes of the disastrous defeat. General Butler had been an 
Indian trader at an early day. It appears from the documen- 
tary testimony, that he did not report to the Commander-in- 
chief (St. Clair) the information he received from the recon- 
noisance of Colonel Oldham and Captain Slough during the 
preceding night. Oldham, too, appears to have been diligent 
in making his report, but he also was among the slain. St. 
Clair said, had he received the reports of Colonel Oldham and 
Captain Slough, he would have attacked the Indians in the 
night. (Narrative, p. 135.) 

To all these circumstances we repeat the fact, that General 
St. Clair was suffering from severe indisposition, and for 
a portion of the march had to be carried in a litter. And in 
the morning of the attack the army was taken by surprise and 
unprepared. Even under these disadvantages there was a 
great chance of victory for the American army, had the troops 
not been unexpectedly attacked and thrown into disorder at 
the onset. It could not have been the single fact, (as many 
have supposed) that they were militia or volunteers, for in too 
many instances have this class of troops from this western 
valley, stood their ground in severe and deadly conflicts with 
Indians, British and Mexicans. Proofs enough of firmness and 
self government have been given by this class of men, to put 
an end to the prejudices heretofore existing against volunteer 
troops. 



1791. Causes of the Defeat of St. Clair. 399 

The following communication from ColonelJohn Armstrong, 
an experienced warrior with Indians, and the hero of Kittan- 
ning, deserves attention.* 

"It seems probable, that too much attachment to regular or 
military rule, or a too great confidence in the artiller}^ (which 
it seemed formed part of the lines, and had a tendency to ren- 
der the troops stationary,) must have been the motives, which 
led to the adopted order of action. I call it adopted, because 
the General does not speak of having intended any other, 
whereby he presented a large and visible object, perhaps in 
close orders too, to an enemy near enough to destroy, but from 
their known modes of action comparatively invisible ; where- 
by we may readily infer, that five hundred Indians were fully 
sufiicient to do us all the injury we have sustained, nor can I 
conceive them to have been many more. But tragical as the 
event has been, we have this consolation, that during the ac- 
tion our officers and troops discovered great bravery, and that 
the loss of a battle is not always the loss of the cause. In 
vain, however, may we expect success against our presentad- 
versaries, without taking a few lessons from them, which I 
thought Americans had learned long ago. The principles of 
their military action are rational, and therefore often success- 
ful. We must, in a degree, take a similar method in order to 
counteract them." 

If these views are sound, there was no such neglect on the 
part of St. Clair as on the part of Braddock in his defeat ; no 
overwhelming self-confidence, or disregard of sound advice ; 
there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to excuse the abuse and 
persecution to which he was afterwards subjected; but there 
was, 1st, apparent neglect on the part of General Butler and 
Colonel Oldham, leading to a surprise ; 2d, a mistaken position 
assigned the militia by St. Clair, in accordance with the max- 
ims of most officers of the day: and, 3d, a needless adher- 
ence to military rules on the part of the Commander-in-chief, 
which made his force a target for the Indians to shoot at. 

One circumstance connected with this battle, and one of no 
inconsiderable interest, has been but lately brought to light, 
and may even now, perhaps, be doubted; it is the presence 
of Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, — the great captain of the 
Mohawks. Until this was announced in 1838, by Col. Stone, 
in his life of that chieftain, the Little Turtle, Mechecunaqua, 
Chief of the Miamies, had been universally regarded as a 

* Armstrong's letter to Washington, December 23d, 1791, in Sparks' Washington, x. 
223.— Note. 



400 Causes of the Defeat of St. Clair. 1791. 

leader at St. Clair's, as he had been at Harmar's defeat. Mr. 
Stone's information was derived from Brant's family ; but as 
there might have been error in the tradition, — as it is very 
improbable that he should have been there, and no whisper 
from any source have got abroad in all the time since elapsed, 
— as he had been before and was afterwards a messenger and 
advocate of peace,— and as to believe him at St. Clair's defeat, 
Avould be to believe him guilty of needless disguise and de- 
ception, — we cannot but doubt the correctness of the tale told 
by Mr. Stone. But whoever led the savage forces, led them 
with ability and valor, and in no recorded battle did the sons 
of the forest ever show themselves better warriors. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

INDIAN WAR CONTINUED. 

Project of General Knox for further action against the Indians — Spies seot among them 
— General Wayne chosen commander — Mission of Putnam — CorrespnnJence with Gov. 
Simcoe — Council at the Maumee — Grand Council at Sandusky — Its failure — Inter- 
ference of tlie British — Marcii of General Wayne — The Battle and Conquest of the In- 
dians — The Treaty at Greenville and Peace Concluded — Appendix. 

It was on the 4th of November that the battle causing the 
defeat of St. Clair and his army took place. 

On the 8th the remains of the army reached Fort Washing- 
ton ; on the 9th, St. Clair wrote to the Secretary of War; on 
the 12th of December the information was communicated to 
Congress ; and on the 26th of December General Knox laid 
before the President two reports, the .second of which contained 
suggestions as to future operations. After noticing the policy 
of the Government toward the native tribes, the futility of all 
attempts to preserve peace, and the justice of the United 
States claim, the Secretary proceeds — 



1791. Plans of General Knox. 401 

Hence it would appear, that the principles of justice as 
well as policy, and it may be added, the principles of economy, 
all combine to dictate, that an adequate military force should 
be raised as soon as possible, placed upon the frontiers, 
and disciplined according to the nature of the service, and in 
order to meet, with the prospect of success, the greatest pro- 
bable combination of the Indian enemy. 

Although the precise manner in which the force to be raised 
be employed, cannot be pointed out with propriet}^ at this time, 
as it will depend on the circumstances of the moment, yet it 
may not be improper to observe, that upon a review of the 
merits of the main object of the late campaign, to wit: the 
establishment of a strong military post at the Miami village, 
wdth the necessary posts of communication, the necessity and 
propriety thereof remain the same; that this necessity will 
probably continue until we shall be possessed of the posts 
upon Lake Michigan, of Detroit, and Niagara, withheld from 
us by Great Britain, contrary to treaty. Without remarking 
upon the principles of this conduct, it may be observed gen- 
erally, that every arrangement in the power of the United 
States, for establishing the tranquility of the frontiers, will be 
inferior to the possession of said posts. That it is, however, 
considered, that, if the said posts were in our possession, we 
ought also to have a strong post at the Miami village, in or- 
der to render the protection effectual, and tliat the posts 
above mentioned will require garrisons whensoever they shall 
be given up. 

The subscriber having deliberately contemplated the pres- 
ent state of affairs upon the frontiers, from the south to the 
north, having recurred to the past in order to estimate the 
probable future events, finds himself constrained by his pub- 
lic duty, although with great reluctance, to state, as the re- 
sult of his judgment, that the public service requires an 
increase of the military force, according to the following ar- 
rangement : 

That the military establishment of the United States, shall, 
during the pleasure of Congress, consist of five thousand one 
hundred and sixty eight non-commissioned otiicers, privates 
and musicians. 

That the said non-commissioned officers and privates shall 
be enlisted to serve three years, unless sooner discharged. 

That the said troops be organized as follows : 

One squadron of cavalry, of four troops, each of 
seventy-six non-commissioned officers and privates, 304 

It should be astipulation in the engagements of these 
men, that they should serve on foot whenever the ser- 
vice requires the measure. 

One battalion of artillery, of four companies each, to 



40S Plans of General Knox. 1791. 

consist of seventy-six non-commissioned officers and 
privates, - - - - . - - - 304 

Each company of artillery to have, as part of its 
composition, ten artificers each, including the pay of 
artillerists to have ten dollars per month. 

Five regiments of infantry, one of which to be rifle- 
men entirely, each of three battalions ; each battalion 
of four companies ; each company of seventy-six non- 
commissioned officers and privates, amounting, for each 
regiment, to nine hundred and twelve, ... 4.560 

5468 
That, in addition to the foregoing arrangement, it would be 
proper that the President of the United States should be au- 
thorized, besides the employment of militia, to take such 
measures for the defensive protection of the exposed parts of 
the frontiers, by calling into service expert woodsmen, as pa- 
trols or scouts, upon such terms as he may judge proper. 
That he be further authorized, in case he should deem the 
measure expedient, to engage mounted militia for defensive 
operations, for such time, and on such terms, as he may judge 
equitable. That he be further authorized, in case he should 
deem the measure expedient, to employ a body of Indians 
belonging to tribes in alliance with the United States, to act 
against the hostile Indians ; and that he be authorized to 
stipulate such terms as he shall judge right. 

That it does not seem essential, at this time, that there 
should be any special appropriations for the defensive protec- 
tion, the mounted militia, or the employment of Indians, 
although the actual expenses for those objects may amount to 
considerable sums, because the estimates, beibre mentioned, 
comprehend the entire expense, for one year, of the proposed 
establishment as complete. But, let the exertions to complete 
it be ever so great, yet it is probable a deficiency will exist, 
which will of course occasion a less expense. The moneys, 
therefore, which may be appropriated to the establishment, 
and not expended, may be applied to the extra objects above 
mentioned. If, however, there .should be a deficiency, it may 
hereafter be provided for. That the nett pay of the private 
soldier, at present, free of all deductions, is two dollars per 
month. But, as the experience of the recruiting service, of the 
present year, evinces that the inducement is insufiicient, it seems 
necessary to raise the pay to three dollars per month, free of all 
deductions ; and the non-commissioned olficers in proportion. 
The rille corps will require more. But whether, under pres- 
ent circumstances, even the additional pay, and an extension 
of bounty to eight dollars, would give such an impulse to the 
recruiting service, as to fill the battalions immediately, re- 
mains to be tried. Nothing has been said upon an increased 



1791. Plans of General Knox. 403 

pay to the commissioned officers, because a memorial upon 
that subject has been presented to Congress. But it cannot 
be doubted that a small increase would be highly grateful to 
the officers, and probably beneficial to the service. The 
mounted militia is suggested to be used during the prepara- 
tion for the main expedition, (and afterwards, if circum- 
stances should render it indispensable.) The effect of such 
desultory operations upon the Indians will, by occupying them 
for their own safety, and that of their families, prevent their 
spreading terror and destruction along the frontiers. These 
sort of expeditions had that precise effect during the last sea- 
son, and Kentucky enjoyed more repose, and sustained less 
injury, than for any year since the war with Great Britain. 
This single effiict, independent of the injury done to the force 
of the Indians, is worth greatly more than the actual expense 
of such expeditions. But, while it is acknowledged that 
mounted militia maybe very proper for sudden enterprises, of 
short duration, it is conceived that militia are utterly unsuit- 
able to carry on and terminate the war in which we are en- 
gaged, with honor and success. And besides, it would be 
ruinous to the purposes of husbandry, to keep them out long, 
if it were practicable to accomplish it. Good troops, enlisted 
for a considerable period, armed and well disciplined in a 
suitable manner, for the nature of the service, will be equal, 
individually, to the best militia ; but, when it is considered to 
these qualities are added the obedience, the patience, the 
promptness, the economy of discipline, and the inestimable 
value of good officers, possessing a proper pride of reputation, 
the comparison no longer holds, and disciplined troops attain 
in the mind, and in actual execution, that ascendancy over 
the militia, which is the result of a just comparative view of 
their relative force, and the experience of all nations and 
ages. The expediency of employing the Indians in alliance 
with us, against the ho.stile Indians, cannot be doubted. It 
has been shown before, how difficult, and even impracticable, 
it will probably be, to restrain the young men of the friendly 
tribes from action, and that, if we do not employ them, they 
will be employed against us. The justice of engaging them 
would depend upon the justice of the war. If the war be 
just on our part, it will certainly bear the test of examination, 
to use the same sort of means in our defence, as are used 
against us. The subscriber, therefore, submits it as his opin- 
ion, that it would be proper to employ judiciously, as to time 
and circumstances, as many of the friendly Indians as may be 
obtained, not exceeding one thousand in number.* 

In the necessity for a competent army all seem to have 
agreed, but it w^is the wish of Washington that before this 

*American State Papers, v. 198—199. 



404 Pacific offers to the Iroquois. 1791. 

army was organized, every effort should be again made to pre- 
vent bloodshed. Colonel Pickering, in his meeting of June 
and July 1791, with the Iroquois at the Painted Post, had, 
among other things, proposed that certain chiefs should, in 
the following January, go to Philadelphia while Congress was 
in session, and shake hands with their newly adopted father. 
The importance of the proposed visit became more evident 
after the news of St. Clair's discomfiture, for the fidelity of 
the New York Indians even was doubted. On the 20th of 
December, 1791, accordingly, we find Knox writing to the 
Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the Iroquois missionary, pressing 
through him the invitation given by the commissioner, and 
especially urging the presence of Brant. To aid the proposed 
peace-measures, a respectful and kind message was sent to 
the Senecas on the 7th of January, 1792; while, to guard 
against surprise, means were adopted to learn the purpose of 
a great council called at Buffalo creek, and also to ascertain 
the intentions of the tribes on the Wabash and Miami. This 
was done in part through the agency of the Reverend Mr. 
Kirkland, and partly by the mission of Captain Peter Pond 
and William Stedman, who, on the 9th of January, two days 
before Knox's two plans above referred to, were laid before 
Congress, received their instructions as secret messengers or 
spies among the western Indians; from those instructions we 
quote a few paragraphs: 

Repair to Niagara and Detroit, without suffering your busi- 
ness to escape you, until the proper time. When at Detroit, 
assume the character of traders with the Indians — a business 
Mr. Pond is well acquainted with. i\Iix with the Miami and 
Wabash Indians. Find their views and intentions, through 
such channels as your discretion shall direct. Learn the 
opinions of the more distant Indians. Insinuate upon all fa- 
vorable occasions, the humane disposition of the United States; 
and, if you can by any means ripen their judgment, so as to 
break forth openly, and declare the readiness of the United 
Slates to receive, with open arms, the Indians, notwithstand- 
ing all that is passed, do it. If suck declaration should be 
made, at the Miami or Wabash, and be well received, you 
might persuade some of the most inlluential chiefs to repair to 
our posts on the Ohio, and so, from post to post, to this 
place. 

P.ut, if you should be so fortunate as to succeed in persuad- 
ing the Chiefs of the Miami, and hostile, and any other neigh- 



1791. Instructions to Pond and Stcdman, 405 

boring tribes, to repair here, every possible precaution must 
be taken by you, and by the commanding officer of the troops, 
who is hereby required to afford the necessary escorts, in or- 
der to guard the Indians from being injured by the whites. 

While among the Indians, or at Niagara, or Detroit, endea- 
vor to find out the numbers and tribes of the Indians who 
were in the attack of General St. Clair, and their loss, killed 
and wounded ; what number of prisoners they took ; and what 
they did with them ; what disposition they made of the can- 
non taken, arms, tents, and other plunder ; what are their in- 
tentions for the next year; the numbers of the association; 
how they are supplied with arms, ammunition, and provis- 
ions. 

You will readily perceive, that the information required 
must be given me at the earliest period possible. You will, 
therefore, let me know, by some means which you must de- 
vise, your arrival at Niagara, Detroit, and the Miami village ; 
and, if possible, from thence, what are your prospects.* 

Pond and his companion, however, could get no farther 
than Niagara. While by the northern route this was attem.pt- 
ed, Wilkinson, commanding at Fort Washington, on the 10th 
of February, was instructed to send word to Maj. Ilamtramck, 
at Vincennes, that the Government wished to secure the 
agency of the French colonists and friendly Indians in quell- 
ing the war-spirit. In February also, further friendly messa- 
ges were sent to the Senecas, and an invitation forwarded to 
Brant from the Secretary of War himself, asking him to ccme 
to Philadelphia. In March fifty Iroquois chiefs reached the 
city of brotherly love, and in the spirit of love transacted 
their business with the American rulers; and during April and 
May, Captain Trueman and others were sent from the Ohio to 
the hostile tribes, bearing messages of fiiendship. But before 
we relate the unhappy issue of Trueman's expedition, we 
must notice the steps taken by the Federal Government in 
reference to military preparations, which were to be looked to 
in case all else should fail. St. Clair had requested a court 
of Inquiry to examine the reasons of his deieat, and had ex- 
pressed his wish to surrender his post as commander of the 
western forces so soon as the examination had taken place ; 
but this proposition to retain his commission until alter his 
trial, was rendered nugatory by the fiict, that under the exist- 
ing system no court of inquiry could be constituted to adjudge 

* Aniirican State Papers, v. 227. 



406 Wayne Selected to the Command. 1792. 

his case, and Washington accordingly informed him that it 
was neither posf^ible to grant him the trial he desired, nor al- 
low him to retain his position. St. Clair having withdrawn, 
it became a very dilFicult question for the Executive to hit 
upon a person in all respects suited for such a charge. Gen. 
Morgan, Gen. Scott, Gen. Wayne, Col. Darke, and General 
Henry Lee were all thought of and talked of. Of these, 
Wayne was the one selected, although his appointment caused, 
as Gen. Lee, then Governor of Virginia, wrote Washington, 
"extreme disgust" among all orders in the Old Dominion.* 
But the President had selected Wayne not hastily nor through 
"partiality or influence," and no idle words afllscted him. In 
June, Gen. Wayne moved westward to Pittsburgh, and pro- 
ceeded to organize the army which was to be the ultimate ar- 
gument of the American with the Indian confederation. 
Through the summer of 1792, the preparation of the soldiers 
was steadily attended to ; "train and discipline them for the 
service they are meant for," said Washington, "and do not 
spare powder and lead, so the men be made marksmen." In 
December, 1792, the forces now recruited and trained, were 
gathered at a point about twenty-two miles below Pittsburgh, 
on the Ohio, called Legionville ; the army itself having been 
denominated the Legion of the United States, divided into 
four sub-legions, and provided with legionary and sub-legion- 
ary officers. JNIeantime, at Fort Washington, Wilkinson had 
succeeded St. Clair as commandant, and in January had or- 
dered an expedition to examine the field of the late disastrous 
conflict. This body reached the point designated, on February 
1st, and from the letter of Capt. Buntin to St. Clair, relative 
to what was found there, we take the following passage if 

"In my opinion, those unfortunate men who fell in the ene- 
my's hands, with life, were used with the greatest torture — 
having their limbs torn ofl'; and the women iiave been treated 
with the most indecent cruelty, having stakes as thick as a 
person's arm drove through their bodies. The first, I observed 
when burying the dead ; and the latter was discovered by 
Colonel Sargent and Doctor Brown. VV^e found three whole 
carriages ; the other five were so much damaged that they 
were rendered useless. By the General's orders, pits were 

»See Amer. State Paperi. v. 22S, 229, 235. Sparks' Washington, x, 240, 2tt, Note. 

t Sparks' Washington, x. 248, 257. American Pioneer, i. 293. American State Papers, 
xii. 40. 



1792. Speech to Indians sent hy Trucman. 407 

dug in different places, and all the dead bodies that were ex- 
posed to view, or could be conveniently found (the snow being 
very deep) were buried. During this time, there was sundry 
parties detached, some for our safety, and others in examining 
the course of the creek ; and some distance in advance of the 
ground occupied by the militia, they found a large camp, not 
less than three quarters of a mile long, which was supposed 
to be that of the Indians the night before the action. We re- 
mained on the Held that night, and next morning fixed geared 

horses to the carriages and moved for Fort Jefferson. 

* *■ * * * * * 

As there is little reason to believe that the enemy have car- 
ried off the cannon, it is the received opinion that they are 
either buried or thrown into the creek, and I think the latter 
the most probable ; but as it was frozen over with a thick ice, 
and that covered with a deep snow, it was impossible to make 
a search with any prospect of success. In a former part of 
this letter, I have mentioned the camp occupied by the enemy 
the night before the action : had Colonel Oldham been able to 
have complied with your orders on that evening, things at this 
day might have worn a different aspect."* 

While Wayne's army were gathering and target-shooting, 
the peace measures of the United States were pressed with 
equal perseverance. In the first place, the Iroquois, through 
their chiefs who came to Philadelphia, were led to act as 
peace-makers: in addition to them, on the 3d of April, Col. 
Trueman received his instructions to repair to the Miami vil- 
lage with friendly messages, oflering all reasonable terms : 

Brothers : — The President of the United States entertains 
the opinion, that the war which exists is founded in error and 
mistake on your parts. That you believe the United States 
want to deprive you of your lands, and drive you out of the 
country. Be assured this is not so : on the contrary, that we 
should be greatly gratified with the opportunity of imparting 
to you all the blessings of civilized life ; of teaching you to 
cultivate the earth, and raise corn ; to raise oxen, sheep, and 
other domestic animals ; to build comfortable houses, and to 
educate your children, so as ever to dwell upon the land. 

Brothers : — The President of the United States requests you 
to take this subject into your serious consideration, and to re- 
flect how abundantly more it will be for your interest to be at 
peace with the United States, and to receive all the benefit 
thereof, than to continue a war, which, however flattering it 
may be to you for a moment, must, in the end, prove ruinous. 

This desire of peace has not arisen in consequence of the 
late defeat of the troops under Major General St. Clair ; 

* Dillon, i. 308. See also Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, ii. 30. 



408 Instructions to Rufus Putnam. 1792. 

because, in the beginning of the last year, a similar message 
was sent you by Colonel IVoctcr, but who was prevented from 
reaching you by some insurmountable ditiiculties. All the 
Senccas, at BuUalo Creek, can witness for the truth of this as- 
sertion, as he iield, during the month nf April last, long con- 
ferences with them, to devise the means of getting to you in 
safety. 

War, at all times, is a dreadful evil to those who are en- 
gaged therein, and more particularly so where a few people 
engage to act against so great numbers as the people of the 
United States. 

Brothers : — Do not sufter the advantages you have gained 
to mislead your judgment, and to influence you to continue 
the war ; but reflect upon the destructive consequences which 
must attend such a measure. 

The President of the United States is highly desirous of 
seeing a number of your principal chiefs, and convincing you, 
in person, how much he wishes to avoid. the evils of war for 
your sake, and the sake of humanity. 

Consult, therefore, upon the great object of peace ; call in 
your parties, and enjoin a cessation of all other depredations : 
and as many of the principal chiefs as shall choose, repair to 
Philadelphia, the scat of tbe General Government, and there 
make a peace, founded upon the principles of justice and 
humanity. Remember that no additional lands will be re- 
quired of you, or any other trilje, to those that have been 
ceded by former treaties, particularly by the trilies who had a 
right to make the treaty of Muskingum in the year 17S9. 

But, if any of your tribes can prove that you have a fair 
right to any lands, comprehended by the said treaty, and have 
not been compensated therefor, you shall receive full satisfac- 
tion upon that head. 

'j'he chiefs you send shall be safely escorted to this city : 
and shall be well fed and provided witli all things for their 
journey ; and the faith of the United States is hereby pledged 
to you for the true and liberal performance of everything 
herein contnined and suggested: and all this is confirmed, in 
your manner, by the great white belt, hereunto attached.* 

To assist farther in attaining the desired objects, Captain 
Ileudrick, chief of the Stockbridge Indians, on the 8th of 
May, was dispatched to urge the views of Washington at the 
approaching council of the north-western confederacy ; and 
on the '22.1 of the same month, instructions were also issued 
to General Rufus Putnam, to go in company with the Mora- 
vian missionary, John lleckewelder, into the Indian country, 
and strive to secure peace and a permanent treaty. f Some 

* American State rnpcrs v. 230. t American State Papers, v. 233. 



1792. Instructions to Rufus Putnam. 409 

parts of those orders are deserving of perpetuation in every 
form, and, therefore, we extract them : 

The chiefi of the Five Nations of Indians, who were so 
long in this city, lately, were astonished at the moderation of 
our claim of land, it being very different from what they had 
been taught, by designing people, to believe. 

It would seem that the Indians have been misled with re- 
spect to our claims, by a certain map, published in Connecti- 
cut, wherein are laid out ten new States, agreeably to a re- 
port of a Committee of Congress. 

The United States are desirous, in any treaty which shall 
be formed in future, to avoid all causes of war, relative to 
boundaries, by fixing the same in such a manner as not to 
be mistaken by the meanest capacity. As the basis, there- 
fore, of your negotiation, you will, in the strongest and most 
explicit terms, renounce, on the part of the United States, all 
claim to any Indian land which shall not have been ceded 
by fair treaties, made with the Indian nations. 

You may say — that we conceive the treaty of Fort Harmar 
to have been formed by the tribes having a just right to make 
the same, and that it was done with their lull understanding 
and free consent. 

That if, however, the said tribes should judge the compen- 
sation to have been inadequate to the object, or that any 
other tribes have a just claim, in both cases they shall receive 
a liberal allowance, on their finally settling all disputes upon 
the subject. 

.As the United States never made any treaties with the 
Wabash Indians, although the said Indians have been repeat- 
edly invited thereto, their claims to the lands east and south 
of the said Wabash have not been defined. 

This circumstance will be a subject of your inquiry with 
the assembled Indian tribes ; and you may assure the parties 
concerne 1, that an equitable boundary shall be arranged with 
them. 

You will make it clearly understood, that we want not a 
foot of their land, and that it is theirs, and theirs only ; that 
they have the right to sell, and the right to refuse to sell, and 
the United States will guarantee to them the said just right. 

That it is not only the sincere desire of the United States 
to be ;it peace with all the neighboring Indian tribes, but to 
protect them in their just rights, against lawless, violent white 
people. If such should commit any injury on the person or 
properties of a. peaceable Indian, they will be regarded 
equally as the enemies of the General Government, as the In- 
dians, and will be punished accordingly. 

Your first great object, upon meeting the Indians, will be to 
26 



410 Instructions to Rufus Putnam. 1792 

convince them that the United States require none of their 
lands. 

The second, that we shall guaranty all that remain, and 
take the Indians under our protection. 

Thirdly ; they must agree to the truce, and immediately to 
call in all their war parlies. It will be in vain to be negotia- 
ting with them while they shall be murdering the frontier 
citizens. 

Having happily effected a truce, founded on the above as- 
surances, it will then be your primary endeavor to obtain 
from each of the hostile and neighboring tribes two of the 
most respectable chiefs, to repair to the seat of the Govern- 
ment, and there conclude a treaty with the President of the 
United States, in which all causes of difference should be 
buried forever. 

You will give the chiefs every a,ssurance of personal pro- 
tection, while on their journey to Philadelphia, and, should 
they insist upon it, hostages of officers for the safe return of 
the chiefs, and, in case of their compliance, you will take 
every precaution by the troops for the protection of the said 
chiefs, which the nature of the case may require. 

But if, after having used your utmost exertions, the chiefs 
should decline the journey to Philadelj)hia, then you will 
agree vv-ith them on a plan for a general treaty.* 

We have mentioned the invitation given in February by 
the Secretary of War to Brant to visit Philadelphia: — Some 
of his English friends urged the MohaxA'k by no means to 
comply with the request, but he had the independence to think 
and act for himself, and on the 20lh of June appeared at 
the then Federal capital. He remained there ten or twelve 
days, and was treated by all with marked attention ; great 
pains were taken to make him understand the posture of 
affairs and the wishes of the United States; and, in tlie 
hope that he would prove a powerful pacificator, on the 27th 
of .June a letter was addressed to him by General Knox, lay- 
ing before him the wishes of the Coverment, and making him 
another messenger of peace. The fact that five independent 
embassies, asking peace', were sent to the inimical tribes ; and 
the tone of the papers from which we have extracted so fully, 
will demonstrate, we think, the wish of the United States to 
do the aborigines entire justice. But the victories they had 
gained, and the favorable whispers of the British agents, 
closed the ears of the red men ; and all propositions for peace 

* American Bute Papers, v. 234. 230. 



1792. Result of Putnam's Mission. 411 

were rejected in one form or another. Freeman, who left 
Fort Washington, April 7th ; Trueman, who left it May 22d 
for the Maumee. and Colonel Hardin, who on the same day 
started for Sandusky, were all murdered; Trueman, it would 
seem, however, not by a body of Indians, but by a man and 
boy whom he met in hunting.* Brant, from sickness or cau- 
tion, did not attend the western council, as had been expected. 
Hendricks gave his message into the hands of Colonel McKee, 
and kept away from the gathering of the nations ; and of the 
four individual messengers, Trueman, Brant, Hendricks, and 
Putnam, Putnam alone reached his goal. That gentleman 
left Marietta, upon the 26th of June, and on the 2d of July 
was at Fort Washington ; here he heard of Indian hostilities 
at Fort Jefferson, and of the probability of Trueman's murder. 
He found also that it would be in vain to ask the chiefs, under 
any circumstances, to go to Philadelphia, and that it was ex- 
tremely doubtful if they could be prevailed on to Ausit even 
Fort Washington. Under these circumstances, conceiving it 
desirable that some step should be taken at once, he deter- 
mined to proceed to Fort Knox, (Post St. Vincent,) and there 
meet such of the Wabash leaders as could be got together, in 
the hope that they might at least be detached from the gen- 
eral league. This determination he carried into eflcct on the 
17th of August, when, with several Indian prisoners to be re- 
stored to their friends, and presents for them beside, he left 
Cincinnati, and reached Vincennes in due time. Upon the 
27th of September he formed a treaty with the Eel river tribe, 
the Weas, Illinois, Potawatomies,Musquitoes, Wabash Kicka- 
poos, Piankeshaws, Kaskaskias, and Peorias. This treaty, 
however, was never ratified by the Senate, and proved prac- 
tically of little or no use, although sixteen chiefs of the Wa- 
bash tribe were prevailed on to go to Philadelphia. f 

[The council hold at the mouth of the Auglaize, through 
the efforts of the Six JXations, did not produce the intended 
result. This council was one of the largest ever held by In- 
dians. Besides the New York, Western, and Canadian In- 
dians, there were present twenty-seven other nations ; some 
from a great distance from the north-west.] On the 16th of 

* May's deposition. Brant's letters, (American State Papers, v. 244. 245;) also McKee's 
account sent Brant, (Stone's Brant, ii. 333.) 
t Stone, ii. 334. American State Papers, v. 238, 239, 240 ; 319. 322. 338. 



412 Major Adair Attacked. 1793. 

November the emissaries of the Iroquois gave an account of 
their doings to the agent for the United States and others, at 
Buffalo Creek, and the mode in which the information w^as com- 
municated is so peculiar that we should transcribe the speech 
entire if our limits would permit. 

By this council, it appeared, everything was referred to 
another council, to be held in the spring, but with the clear 
intimation that the Ohio must be the boundary of the Ameri- 
can lands, and that the treaties of Fort Mcintosh and Fort 
Harmar, must be regarded as null. Soon after this council 
broke up, on the 6th of jVovember, Major Adair, commander 
of the mounted Kentucky infantry, was attacked by a body of 
savages in the neighborhood of St. Clair, twenty miles north 
of Fort Hamilton. The attack was sudden and violent, and 
with difficulty repelled. The officer in chiarge of the station, 
took no part in the conflict, as he had been strictly ordered by 
General Wilkinson to act only on the defensive, but Adair's 
men received ammunition from the fortress, and returned 
thither with their wounded. This action, however, together 
with other evidences of continued hostilities, did not prevent 
the United States from taking measures to meet the hostile 
tribes " at the rapids of the Miami (Maumee) when the leaves 
were fully out." For this purpose the President, at first, 
selected Charles Carroll and Charles Thompson, but as they 
declined the nomination, Benjamin Lincoln, Beverly Ran- 
dolph, and Timothy Pickering were, on the first of ]\Iarch, 
1793, appointed to attend the proposed meeting, which it was 
concluded should be held at Sandusky. On the 26th of 
April, the Commissioners received their instructions ; on the 
27th General Lincoln left Philadelphia for Niagara, by the 
way of New York ; and on the 30th the other two started by 
the route through Pennsylvania, which led up the vallies of 
the Schuylkill, Susquehanna Lycoming and Coshocton, and 
across to Genesee. These, traveling more rapidly, for Lin- 
coln, had the stores and baggage, reached Niagara on the 
17th of May, and were at once invited by Lieutenant-General 
Simcoe to take up their residence at his seat, Navy Hall ; with 
this invitation they complied and remained there until the 
28th of June. The cause of this delay was the belief express- 
ed by McKee and others, that the Indians would not be ready 
to meet the Commissioners before the last of June, as private 



1793. Letter to Governor Simcoe. 413 

councils had first to be held among the various tribes.* While 
resting in his Majesty's dominion, the ambassadors were no- 
wise idle, and among other interesting documents, on the 7th 
of June, presented the following note to Governor Simcoe : 

The commissioners of the United States, for making peace 
with the western Indians, beg leave to suggest to Governor 
Simcoe : that the very high importance of the negotiation 
committed to their management, makes them desirous of using 
every proper means that may contribute to its success. That 
they have observed, with pleasure, the disposition manifested 
by the Governor to afford every requisite assistance in the pre- 
paratory arrangements for holding the treaty with the hostile 
Indians. But, all the facilities thus afforded, and all the ex- 
penses incurred by the British government, on this occasion, 
will, perhaps, be fruitless, unless some means are used to 
counteract the deep-rooted prejudices, and unfounded reports 
among the Indian tribes : for, the acts of a few bad men, 
dwelling airong them, or having a familiar intercourse with 
them, b}'' cherishing those prejudices, or raising and spreading 
those reports, may be sufficient to defeat every attempt to ac- 
complish a peace. As an instance of such unfounded reports, 
the commissioners have noticed the declaration of a Mohawk, 
from Grand River, that Governor Simcoe advised tkc Indians to 
make peace, but not to give up any of their lands. The commis- 
.sioners further observe, that if any transactions at former 
treaties were exceptionable, the principles of the present 
treaty are calculated to remove the causes of complaint ; for 
the views of government are perfectly fair. And, although it 
is impossible to retrace all the steps then taken, the United 
States are disposed to recede, as far as shall be indispensable, 
and the existing state of things will admit ; and, for the lands 
retained, to make ample compensation. The views of the 
United States being thus fair and liberal, the commissioners 
wish to embrace every means to make them appear so to the 
Indians, against any contrary suggestions. Among these 
means, the commissioners consider the presence of some gen- 
tlemen of the army to be of consequence : for, although the 
Indians naturally look up to their superintendents as their 
patrons, yet the presence of some officers of^ie army will 
probably induce them to negotiate with greater Confidence on 
the terms of peace. Independently of these considerations, 
the commissioners, for their own sakes, request the pleasure of 
their company. The commissioners, feeling the greatest 
solicitude to accomplish the object of their mission, will be 

* American State Papers, v. 343, where the Journal of the Commissioners is given ; 
also, Massachusetts Historical Collections, third serie?, vol. v. 190 — 196, wliere General 
Lincoln's Journal is given, together with a drawing of the conference at Niagara, July 7th, 
made by Colonel Pilkington, of the British army: this is also given in Stone's Brant, ii. 



414 Govei'nor Simcoc's Reply. 1793. 

happy to receive from tlie Governor every information relat- 
ing to it, which his situation enables him to communicate. 
He must be aware that the sales and settlements of the lands 
over the Ohio, founded on the treaties of Forts Mcintosh and 
Harmar, render it impossible now to make that river the 
boundary. The expression of his opinion, on this point in 
particular, will give them great satisfaction.* 

To this note the following answer was sent : 

T^ilolonel Simcoe, commanding the King's forces in Upper 
Canada, has the honor, in answer to the paper delivered to him 
this morning by the Commissioners of the U. States for mak- 
ing peace with the western Indians, to state to those gentlemen, 
that he is duly impressed with the serious importance of the 
negotiation committed to their charge, and shall be happy to 
contribute by every proper means that may tend to its suc- 
cess. He is much obliged to them for the polite manner in 
which they have expressed their sense of his readiness to af- 
ford them such facilities as may have been in his power, to 
assist in the preparatory arrangements for holding the treaty. 
He is perfectly aware that unfounded reports and deep-rooted 
prejudices have arisen among the Indian tribes: but whether 
from the acts of a few bad men living among them, he cannot 
pretend to say. But, he must observe, upon the instance given 
by the Commissioners, of one of "those unfounded reports, 
that a Mohawk from the Grand river should say, that Gov. Sim- 
coe advised the Indians to make peace, but not to give up 
their lands," it i.s of that nature that cannot be true; the In- 
dians, as yet, not having applied for his advice on the subject : 
and it being a point, of all others, on which they are the least 
likely to consult the British officers commanding in Upper 
Canada. Colonel Simcoe considers himself perfectly justified 
in admitting, on the requisition of the Commissioners, some 
ofiicers to attend the treaty; and, therefore, in addition, to the 
gentlemen appointed to control the delivery of the British 
provisions, «kc., he will desire Captain Bunbury, of the fifth 
regiment, and Lieutenant Givens, who has some knowledge 
of one of the Indian languages, to accompany the Commis- 
sioners. Colonel Simcoe can give the Commissioners no fur- 
ther information than what is afforded by the speeches of the 
confederate nations, of which General Hull has authentic 
copies. But, as it has been, ever since the conquest of Cana- 
da, the principle of the British Government to unite the Ameri- 
can Indians, that, all petty jealousies being extinguished, the 
real wishes of the several tribes may be fully expressed, and 
in consequence of all the treaties made with them, may have 
the most complete ratification and universal concurrence, so, 

* American State Papers, v. 347. 



1790-95. Brant meets the Commissioners. 415 

he feels it proper to state to tlic Commissioners, that a jeal- 
ousy of a contrary conduct in the agents of the United States, 
appears to him to have been deeply impressed upon the minds 
of the confederacy.* 

On the day before this correspondence, the six Quakers, 
who, both by their own request, and that of the Indians, had 
accompanied the deputation, together with Ileckewelder and 
others, sailed for Detroit to learn how matters stood; and on 
the 26th of the month the Commissioners themselves, receiv- 
ing no news from Sandusky, prepared to embark for the mouth 
of Detroit river. On the 15th of July, while still detained by 
head wands, Colonel Butler,t Brant and some fifty natives, ar- 
rived from the Maumee, and two days after, in the presence of 
the Governor, Brant thus addressed the Americans: — 

Brothers : We have met to-day our brothers, the Bostonians 
and English ; we are glad to have the meeting, and think it is 
by the appointment of the Great Spirit. Brothers of the Uni- 
ted States : We told you the other day, at Fort Erie, that, at 
another time, we would inform you why we had not assembled 
at the time and place appointed for holding the treaty with 
you. We now inform you that it is because there is so much 
of the appearance of w-ar in that quarter. Brothers: We 
have given the reason for our not meeting you; and now we 
request an explanation of those warlike appearances. Broth- 
ers: The people you see here are sent to represent the Indian 
nations who own the lands north of the Ohio, as their com- 
mon property, and who are all of one mind — one heart. Bro- 
thers : We have come to speak to you for tw^o reasons : one, 
because your warriors being in our neighborhood, have pre- 
vented our meeting at the appointed place : the other, to know^ 
if you are properly authorized to run and establish a new boun- 
dary line between the lands of the U. States, and the Indian 
nations. We are still desirous of meeting you at the appointed 
place. Brothers : We wish you to deliberate well on this busi- 
ness. We liave spoken our sentiments in sincerity, consider- 
ing ourselves in the presence of the Great Spirit, from whom, 
in time of danger, we expect assistance. J 

On the following day the Commissioners replied : 

Brothers: You have mentioned two objects of your coming 
to meet us at this place. One, to obtain an explanation of 
the war-like appearances on the part of the United States on 
the north-western side of the Ohio ; the other, to learn wheth- 

* American State Paper?, v. 347. 

f The commaBdcr of the Tories at Wyoming, afterwards Indian Agent. 

X Americaa State Papers, v. 34.4. 



416 Answer to Captain BranVs Speech. 1793. 

er we have authority to run and establish a new boundary line 
between your lands and ours. Brothers: On the first point 
we cannot but express our extreme regret, that any reports of 
warlike appearances, on the part of the United States, should 
have delayed our meeting at Sandusky. The nature of the 
case irresistil)ly forbids all apprehensions of hostile incursions 
into the Indian country north of the Ohio, during the treaty 
at Sandusky. Brothers : We are deputed by the Great Chief 
and the Great Council of the United States to treat with you 
of peace; and is it possible that the same Great Chief and his 
Great Council could order their warriors to make fresh war, 
w'hile we were sitting round the same fire with you, in order 
to makepeace? Is it possible that our Great Chief and his 
Council could act so deceitfully towards us, their Commis- 
sioners, as well as towards you? Brothers: \Ye think it not pos- 
sible ; but we will quit arguments and come to facts. Brothers: 
We assure you, that our Great Chief, Genral Washington, has 
strictly forbidden all hostilities against you, until the event of 
the proposed treaty at Sandusky shall be known. Here is the 
proclamation of his head warrior, Gen. Wayne, to that eflcct. 
But, brothers, our Great Chief is so sincere in his professions 
for peace, and so desirous of preventing every thing which could 
obstruct the treaty and prolong tlie war, that, besides giving the 
above orders to his head warrior, he has informed the Govern- 
ors of the several States adjoining the Ohio, of the treat)' propos- 
ed to be held at Sandusky, and desired them to unite their power 
with his to prevent any hostile attempts against the Indians 
north of the Ohio, until the result of the treaty is made known. 
Those Governors have accordingly issued their orders, strictly 
forbidding all such hostilities. The proclamations of the Gov- 
ernors of Pennsylvania and Virginia we have here in our 
hands. Brothers : If, after all these precautions of our Great 
Chief, any hostilities should be committed north of the Ohio, 
they must proceed from a few disorderly people, whom no 
considerations of justice or public good can restrain. But we 
hope and believe that none such can be found. 

Brothers : After these explanations, we hope you will pos- 
sess your minds in peace, relying on the good faith of the 
United States that no injury is to be apprehended by you dur- 
ing the treaty. Brothers : We now come to the second point : 
whether we are properly authorized to run and establish a new 
boundary line between your lands and ours. Brothers: we an- 
swer explicitly that we have that authority. Where this line 
should run, will be the great subject of discussion at the treaty 
between you and us ; and w^e sincerely hope and expect that 
it may then be fixed to the satisfaction of both parties. Doubt- 
less some concessions must be made on both sides. In all dis- 
putes and quarrels, both parties usually take some wrong 
steps ; so that it is only by mutual concessions that a true 



1793. Tribes present at the Maumce Council. ■ 417 

reconciliation can be effected. Brothers: We wish you to 
understand us clearly on this head; for we mean that all our 
proceedings should be made with candor. We therefore re- 
peat and say explicitly that some concession will be necessary 
on your part, as well as on ours, in order to establish a just 
and permanent peace. Brothers : After this great point of 
the boundary shall be fully considered at the treaty, we shall 
know what concessions and stipulations it will be proper to 
make on the part of the United States ; and we trust they will 
be such as the world will pronounce reasonable and just. 
Brothers; You told us that you represent the nations of Iiulians 
who own the lands north of the Ohio, and w'.ose Chiefs are 
now assembled at the Rapids ot the Maumee. Brothers: It 
would be a satisfaction to us to be informed of the names of 
those nations, and of the numbers of the Chiefs of each so as- 
fsembled. Brothers : We once more turn our eyes to your rep- 
resentation of warlike appearances in your country ; to give 
you complete satisfaction on this point, we now assure you as 
soon as our council at this place is ended, we will send a mes- 
senger on horseback to the Cireat Chief of the United States, 
to desire him to renew and strongly repeat his orders to his 
head warrior, not only to abstain from all hostilities against 
you ; but to remain quietly at his posts until the event of the 
treaty shall be known.* 

To the inquiry made by the Agents of the United States as 
to tribes, Brant said, — 

Yesterday you expressed a wish to be informed of the names 
of the nations, and numbers of Chiefs assembled at the Mau- 
mee; but, as they were daily coming in, we cannot give you 
exact information. You will see for yourselves in a few days. 
When we left it the following nations were there, to wit : Five 
Nations, Wyandots, Shawanese, Delawares, JMunsees, Mia- 
mies, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatamies. Nantikokies, Min- 
goes, Cherokees, — the principal men of these were there. 

The jealousy of the Indians as to the hostile movements 
was owing to the fact, that Wayne was at this time gathering 
horses and cattle, and cutting roads in the heart of the con- 
tested country, beyond Fort Jefferson, within three days jour- 
ney of the Indian head quarters. f 

His " Legion" had passed the winter of 1792-3 at Legion- 
ville, and there remained until the last of April, 1793, when it 
was taken down the river to Cincinnati, where it encamped 
near Fort Washington, and there it continued until October, 

* American State Paper?, v. 3-19. 

t American State Papers, v. 350. 351. 



418 Meeting of the Council at Sandusky. 1793. 

engaged merely in drilling and preparations, the Commander- 
in-Chief having been directed by the Executive to issue a 
proclamation, forbidding all hostile movements north of the 
Ohio until the northern Commissioners were heard from. 
This proclamation was issued, and the country remained tran- 
quil, although, as we have said, preparations were made for 
action in case it should finally become needful. 

General Wayne, after encountering many obstacles, was 
perfecting the discipline of his soldiers at " llobson's choice." 
[This place was in the vicinit}' of Cincinnati, and so called, 
because, from extreme high water, the Legion was prevented 
from landing elsewhere.] Hei-e he made efforts to get forward 
mounted volunteers from Kentucky, who, after the experience 
of 1790 and 1791, could not be had, so strong was their repug- 
nance to serve with regulars — the Commissioners had crossed 
Lake Erie, and on the 21st of July took up their quarters at 
the house of the famous or infamous Captain Matthew 
Elliott, at the mouth of the Detroit river.* On the day of 
their arrival, they wrote to Colonel McKee, asking him to 
hasten the proposed meeting at Sandusk}', which he promised 
to do. On the 29th of July, twenty Indians arrived from the 
Rapids to see the Commissioners ; and on the three following 
days the white and red men met in Council — Simon Girty 
acting as interpreter. It seemed the confederacj- were not 
satisfied with the meeting between Brant and the Commis- 
sioners at Niagara, and now wished to know distinctly, and 
merely, if the United States would or would not make the 
Ohio the boundary. To this inquirj', the Commissioners re- 
plied, (July 31,) in writing, setting forth the American claims, 
the grounds of them, and the impossibility of making the Ohio 
the line of settlement. The answers to this communication, 
one of which was delivered orally on the spot, and the other 
on the 16lh of August, in writing, are so characteristic and 
able, that on this account, as well as because they were the 
uhlmdta of the Indians in this negotiation, we give entire. 

Brothers : We are all brothers you see here now. Brothers : 
It is now three years since you desired to speak with us. We 
heard you yesterday, and understood you well — perfectly well. 
We have a few words to say to you. Brothers : You mentioned 
the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Beaver Creek,t and otiier places. 

* American Stnte P.npcr3, v. 312. ?,b9i. 3G0.— American Pioneer, i. 293.— Butler. 221. 
t Fort Mclutosh. 



1793. Speech of the Chief of the Wyandots in Council. 419 

Those treaties were not complete. There were but a few 
chiefs who treated with you. You have not bought our 
lands. They belong to us. You tried to draw off some of as. 
/'"Brothers: Many years ago, we all know that the Ohio was 
made the boundary. It was settled by Sir William Johnston. 
This side is ours. We look upon it as our property. Brothers : 
You mentioned General Washington. He and you know you 
have your houses and your people on our land. You say you 
cannot move them off: and we cannot give up our land. 
Brothers: We are sorry we cannot come to an agreement. 
The line has been fixed long ago. Brothers : We don't say 
much. There has been much mischief on both sides. We 
came here upon peace, and thought you did the same. We 
shall talk to our head warriors. You may return Vvdience you 
came, and tell Washington. 

The council here breaking up, Captain Elliott went to the 
Shawanese chief Ka-kia-pilathy, and told him that the last 
part of the speech was wrong. The chief came back and 
said it was wrong. Girty said that he had interpreted truly 
what the Wyandot chief spoke. An explanation took place ; 
and Girty added as follows: "Brothers: Instead of going 
home, we wish you to remain here for an answer from us. 
We have your speech in our breasts, and shall consult our 
head warriors."* 

The head warriors having been consulted, the final message 
came in these words — 

" To the Commissioners of the United States. — Brothers : 
We have received your speech, dated the 31st of last month, 
and it has been interpreted to all the different nations. We 
have been long in sending you an answer, because of the 
great importance of the subject. But we now answer it fully ; 
having given it all the consideration in our power. 

" Brothers : You tell us that, after you had made peace 
with the King, Our father, about ten years ago, ' it remained 
to make peace between the United States and the Indian na- 
tions, who had taken part with the King. For this purpose 
Commissioners were appointed, who sent messages to all 
those Indian nations, inviting them to come and make peace ;' 
and, after reciting the periods at which you say treaties were 
held, at Fort Stanwix, Fort Mcintosh and Miami, all which 
treaties, according to your own acknowledgment, were for the 
sole purpose of making peace, you then say, ' Brothers, the 
Commissioners who conducted these treaties, in behalf of the 
United States, sent the papers containing them to the general 

* Am:rican State Papers, v. 319. 



420 Final action of the General Council. 1703, 

council of the States, who, supposing them satisfactory to the 
nations treated with, proceeded to dispose of the lands there- 
by ceded.' 

" Brothers: This is telling us plainly, what we always un- 
derstood to be the case, and it agrees with the declarations of 
those few who attended those treaties, viz: That they went to 
your Commissioners to make peace ; but, thYough fear, wore 
obliged to sign any paper that was laid before them ; and it 
has since appeared that deeds of cession were signed by 
them, instead of treaties of peace. 

*' Brothers: You then say, ' after some time it appears that 
a number of people in j'our nations were dissatisfied with the 
treaties of Fort Mcintosh and Miami, therefore, the council 
of the United States appointed Governor St. Clair their Com- 
missioner, with full power, for the purpose of removing all 
causes of controversy, relating to trade, and settling bounda- 
ries, between the Indian nations in the northern department, 
and the United States. He accordingly sent messages, invit- 
ing all the nations concerned to meet him at a council fire he 
kindled at the Falls of the Muskingum. AYhile he was waiting 
for them, some mischief happened at that place, and the fire 
was put out : so he kindled a council fire at Fort Harmar, 
where near six: hundred Indians, of different nations, attend- 
ed. The Six Nations then renewed and confirmed the treaty 
of Fort Stanwix ; and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed 
and confirmed the treaty of Fort Mcintosh : some Ottawas, 
Chippewas, Pottawatamies, and Sacs, were also parties to 
the treaty of Fort Harmar.' Now, brothers, these are your 
words ; and it is necessary for us to make a short reply to 
them. 

" Brothers : A general council of all the Indian confederacy 
was held, as you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at 
this place ; and that general council was invited by your Com- 
missioner, Governor St. Clair, to meet him for the purpose of 
holding a treaty, with regard to the lands mentioned by you 
to have been ceded by the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort 
Mcintosh. 

" Brothers : We are in possession of the speeches and let- 
ters which passed on that occasion, between those deputed by 
the confederated Indians, and Governor St. Clair, the Com- 
missioner of the United States. These papers prove that 
your said Commissioner, in the beginning of the year 1789, 
and after having been informed by the general council of the 
preceding fall,tliat no bargain or sale of any part of these In- 
dian lands would be considered as valid or binding unless 
agreed to by a general council, nevertheless, persisted in col- 
lecting together a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and 
witli them held a treaty for the cession of an immense coun- 
try, in which they were no more interested, than as a branch 



1793. Proceedings of the General Co2incil. 421 

of the general confederacy, and who were in no manner au- 
thorized to make any grant or concession whatever. 

" Brothers : How then was it possible for you to expect to 
enjoy peace, and quieth' to hold these lands, when your Com- 
missioner was informed, long before he had the treaty of Fort 
Harmar, that the consent of a general council was absolutely 
necessary to convey any part of these lands to tlie United 
States. The part of these lands which the United States now 
wish us to relinquish, and which you say are settled, have 
been sold by the United States since that time. 

" Brothers : You say ' the United States wish to have con- 
firmed all the lands ceded to them by the treaty of Fort liar- 
mar, and also a small tract at the rapids of the Ohio, claimed 
by General Clark, for the use of himself and his warriors. 
And, in consideration thereof, the United States would give 
such a large sum of money or goods, as was never given, at 
any one time, for any quantit}^ of Indian lands, since the 
white people first set their feet on this island. And, because 
these lands did every year furnish you with skins and furs, 
with which you bought clothing and other necessaries, the 
United States will now furnish the like constant supplies. 
And, therefore, besides the great sum to be delivered at once, 
they will every year deliver you a large quantit}' of such goods 
as are best fitted to the wants of yourselves, your women, and 
children.' 

" Brothers: Money to us, is of no value ; and to most of us 
unknown; and, as no consideration whatever cau induce us 
to sell the lands on which we get sustenance for our uomeii 
and children, we hope we may be allowed to point out a mode 
by which your settlers may be easily removed, and peace 
thereby obtained. 

" Brothers: We know that those settlers are poor, or they 
w^ould never have ventured to live in a countiy which has 
been in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio. 
Divide, therefore, this large sum of money, which you have 
ofiered to us, among these people. Give to each, also, a pro- 
portion of what you say you would give to us, annually, over 
and above this very large sum of money ; and, as we are per- 
suaded, they would most readily accept of it in lieu of the 
land you sold them. If you add, also, the grcjit sums you 
must expend in raising and paying armies, with a view to 
force us to yield you our country, you will certainly have 
more than sufiicient for the purpose of repaying these settlers 
for all their labor and their improvements. 

"Brothers: You have talked to us about concessions. It 
appears strange that you should expect any from us who have 
only been defending our just rights against your invasions. 
We want peace. Restore to us our country, and we shall be 
enemies no longer. 



422 Proceedings of the General Council. 1793. 

*' Brothers : You make one concession to us by offering us 
your money; and another by having agreed to do us justice, 
after having long and injuriously withheld it; we mean in 
the acknowledgment you now have made, that the King of 
England never did, nor never had a right to give you our 
country, by the treaty of peace. And you want to make this 
act of common justice a great part of your concessions ; and 
seem to expect that, because you have at last acknowledged 
our independence, we should for such a favor, surrender to you 
our country. 

" Brothers : You have talked, also, a great deal about pre- 
emption, and your exclusive right to purchase Indian lands, 
as ceded to you by the king, at the treaty of peace. 

" Brothers: We never made any agreement with the king, 
nor with any other nation, that we would give to either the 
exclusive right of purchasing our lands; and we declare to 
you, that we consider ourselves free to make any bargain or 
cession of lands, whenever and to whomsoever we please. If 
the white people, as you say, made a treaty that none of them 
but the king should purchase of us, and that he has given that 
right to the United States, it is an affair which concerns you 
and him, and not us; we have never parted with such a 
power. 

"Brothers: At our general council, held at the Glaize last 
fall, we agreed to meet commissioners from the United States, 
for the purpose of restoring peace, provided they consented to 
acknowledge and confirm our boundary line to be the Ohio, 
and we determined not to meet you, until you gave us satis- 
faction on that point; that is the reason we have never met. 

We desire you to consider, brothers, that our only demand 
is the peaceable possession of a small part of our once great 
country. Look back and review the lands from whence we 
have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no farther; 
because the country behind hardly affords food for its inhabi- 
tants : and we have, therefore, resolved to leave our bones in 
this small space to which we are now confined. 

" Brothers : We shall be persuaded that you mean to do us 
justice, if you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary 
line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our meeting 
will be altogether unnecessary. This is the great point which 
we hoped would have been explained before you left your 
homes, as our message, last fall, was principally directed to 
obtain that information. 

Done in general council, at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, 
the I3lh day of August, 1793. 

Nations. 
Wyandots, Miamies, Mohicans, 

Seven Nations, of Canada, Ottawas, Connoys, 



1793. Reasons which kept the Indians at War. 4^3 

Potawatomies, Messasagoes, Delawares, 

Senecas of the Glaize, Chippewas, Nantakokies, 

Shawanese, Munsees, Creeks, 
Cherokees.* 

This, of necessity, closed the attempts of the United States 
to make peace ; some few further efforts were made to secure 
the Iroquois to the cause of America, but they ended in no- 
thing ; and from the month of August, the preparations for a 
decision by arms of the questions pending between the white 
and red men went forward constantly. 

But it is natural to ask what causes led the north-western 
savages thus to stake their very existence upon the contest, 
when terms so liberal were offered by their opponents. We 
answer — first, their previous success did much ; and secondly, 
they hoped for the aid of Britain, and at length of Spain also, 
on their side. 

For several years, said Brant, we were engaged in getting 
a confederacy formed, and the unanimity occasioned by these 
endeavors among our western brethren, enabled them to de- 
feat two American armies. The war continued without our 
brothers, the English, giving any assistance, except a little 
ammunition; and they seeming to desire that a peace might 
be concluded, we tried to bring it about at a time that the 
United States desired it very much, so that they sent commis- 
sioners from among their first people, to endeavor to make 
peace with the hostile Indians. We assembled also for that 
purpose at the Miami river in the summer of 1793, intending 
to act as mediators in bringing about an honorable peace ; and 
if that could not be obtained, we resolved to join our western 
brethren in trying the fortune of war. But to our surprise, 
when upon the point of entering upon a treaty with the com- 
missioners, we found that it was opposed by those acting 
under the British government, and hopes of farther assistance 
were given to our western brethren, to encourage them to 
insist on the Ohio iis a boundary between them and the United 
States. t 

Through Elliott, McKee and Butler, this confidence in Eng- 
lish aid was thus excited among the savages, before their final 
refusal of the generous terms offered by Washington ; and 
soon after, the higher functionaries endorsed the representa- 

*American State Papers, v. 356. 
tStone, ii. 353. 



424 Lo7-d Dorchester's Speech. 1793. 

tions of their subordinates. In Fel)ruary, 1794, Lord Dor- 
chester, addressing tlie deputies from the council of 1793, 
said ; 

Children:^! was in expectation of hearing from the people 
of the United States what was required by them; 1 hoped that 
1 should have been able to bring you together, and make you 
friends. 

Children: — I have waited long, and listened with great at- 
tention, but have not heard one word from them. 

Children: — I llattered myself with the hope that the line 
proposed in the year eighty-three, to separate us from the 
United States, i^;/»c/i vias imvicd'uitdij broken by themselves as 
soon as the peace was signed, would have been mended, or a 
new one drawn, in an amicable manner. Here, also, J have 
been disappointed. 

Children : — Since my return, I find no appearance of a line 
remains; and from the manner in which the people of the 
United States rush on, and act, and talk on this side ; and 
from what 1 learn of their conduct toward the sea, I shall not 
be surprised if we are at war with them in the course of the 
present year; and if so, a line must then be drav/n by the 
warriors. 

Children: — You talk of scllingyour lands to the State of 
New York. 1 have told you that there is no line between 
them and us. 1 shall acknowledge no lands to be theirs which 
have been encroached on by them since the year 17S3. They 
then broke the peace, as they kept it not on their part, it doth 
not bind on ours. 

Children : — They then destroyed their right of pre-emption. 
Therefore, all their approaches towards us since that time, 
and all the purchases made by them, I consider as an infringe- 
ment on the King's rights. And when a line is drawn be- 
tween us, be it in peace or war, they must lose all their im- 
provements and houses on our side of it. Those people must 
all be gone 'A'ho do not obtain leave to become the King's 
subjects. What belongs to the Indians wilL of course, be 
secured and confirmed to them. 

Children: — What farther can I say to you? Y"ou are wit- 
nesses that on our parts we have acted in the most peaceable 
manner, and borne the language and conduct of the people 
of the United States with patience. But I believe our pa- 
tience is almost exhausted.* 

* The autliCDtlcity of of this cpeooh has been qucstioneJ; it was doubtcJ at the time 
even. George Clinton of New York sent the proof of its genuinecss to George Washington. 
March 20tli, 1794, and b.)th he and the Prc-iJent thonglit it autlientic. Judge Jlar^hall 
(Life of Washington, v. u."^5) states it as not authtntic, and Sparks (Washington Papers, x. 
394, Do'c) seems to agree with him; but Mr. Stone found among Erant's papers a ccrti- 



1790-95. British and Spanis/i. aid hoped fur. 425 

And when, during the summer of 1794, there was a contest 
between the United States and the Six Nations, relative to 
the erection of a fort by the former at Presqu'ile (Erie) on 
Lake Erie, Brant, in writing to the British authorities, on the 
19th of July, says — 

In regard to the Presqu'ile business, should we not get an 
answer at the time limited, it is our business to push those 
fellows hard, and therefore it is my intention to form my camp 
at Pointe Appineau; and I would esteem it a favor if his Ex- 
cellency the Lieutenant Governor would lend me four or five 
batteaux. Should it so turn out, and should those fellows not 
go off, and O'Bail continue in the same opinion, an expedition 
against those Ycinkees must of consequence take place. 

His Excellency has been so good as to furnish us with a 
hundred weight of powder, and ball in proportion, which is 
now at Fort Erie ; but in the event of an attack upon Le 
BoEuf people, 1 could wish, if consistent, that his Excellency 
would order a like quantity in addition to be at Fort Erie, in 
order to be in readiness ; likewise I would hope for a little 
assistance in provision. 

But the conduct of England, in sending, as she did. Govern- 
or Simcoe in the month of April, 1794, to the rapids of the 
Maumee, there, within the acknowledged territories of the 
United States, to erect a fort, was the strongest assurance that 
could have been given to the north-western tribes, that she 
would espouse their quarrel. In May *of 1794, a messenger 
from the Mississippi provinces of Spain also appeared in the 
north-w^est, offering assistance. f 

Children ! (he said) you see me on my feet, grasping the 
tomahawk to strike them. We will strike together. I do not 
desire you to go before me, in the front, but to follow me. 

Children : — I present you with a war-pipe, which has been 
sent in all our names to the Musquakies, and all those nations 
who live towards the setting sun, to get upon their feet and 
take hold of our tomahawk : and as soon as they smoked it, 
they sent it back with a promise to get immediately on their 
feet, and join us, and strike this enemy. 

Children — You hear what these distant nations have said 
to us, so that we have nothing farther to do but put our de- 
signs into immediate execution, and to forward this pipe to 

fied MS. copy, from which the above extracts are taken, (Stone's Brant, ii. 3fi8, note); and 
Mr. Hammonl, the British Minister, in May, 1794, acknowledged it to bo o-enuine. 
(American State Papers, i. 462. See also v. 480.) 
t American State Papers, v. 503 to 524, and 484, 487. Stone's Brant, ii. 380. 

27 



426 Causes of the action of England. 1793. 

the three warlike nations who have so long been struggling 
lor their country, and who now sit at the Glaize. Tell them 
to smoke this pipe, and forward it to all the lake Indians and 
their northern brethren. Then nothing will be wanting to 
complete our general union from the rising to the setting of 
the sun, and all nations will be ready to add strength to the 
blow we are going to make.* 

The explanation of the conduct above related on the part 
of England, is not difficult. In March, 1793, Great Britain 
and Russia had united for the purpose of cutting oiF all the 
commerce of revolutionary France, in the hope thereby of 
conquering her. In June, the court of St. James, in accord- 
ance with this agreement, issued orders — 

To stop and detain all vessels loaded wholly or in part with 
corn,Jlour, or meal, bound to any port of France, or any port 
occupied by the armies of France, and to send them to such 
ports as should be most convenient, in order that such corn, 
meal, or flour might be purchased on behalf of his majesty's 
government, and the ships to be released after such purchase, 
and after a due allowance for freight ; or that the masters of 
such ships, on giving due security, to be approved by the court 
of admiralty, be permitted to dispose of their cargoes of corn, 
meal, flour, in the ports of any country in amity with his 
majesty. t 

Against this proceeding the United States protested, while 
England justified the measure as a very mild application of 
international law. On both sides great irritation prevailed, 
and during this period it was that the various acts of Govern- 
or Simcoe and others took place. 

As for Spain, she had long been fearful and jealous of the 
western colonists; she had done all in her power to sow dis- 
sensions between the Americans and the southern Indians, 
and now hoped to cripple her Anglo-Saxon antagonist by 
movements at the north. 

But the Americans were in nowise disposed to yield even 
to this " Hydra,"' as General Wayne called it, of Indian, Brit- 
ish, and Spanish enmity. On the 16th of August, 1793, the 
final messages took place between the American commis- 
sioners and the Indians, at the mouth of Detroit river ; on the 
17th, the commissioners left Captain Elliott's; on the 23cl, 

* MS. among the Brant Papers. Stooe, ii. 375. 
t Pitkin's U. S., ii. 396. 



1793. Wayne's Prospects and Efforts. 427 

reached Fort Erie, near Niagara; upon the same day they 
sent three letters to General Wayne, by three distinct chan- 
nels, advising him of the issue of the negotiations.* Wayne, 
encamped at his " Hobson's choice," and contending with the 
unwillingness of Kentuckians to volunteer in connection with 
regular troops, — with fever, influenza and desertion, — was 
struggling hard to bring his army to such form and consist- 
ency as would enable him to meet the enemy with confidence. 
On the 5th of October, he writes that he cannot hope to have, 
deducting the sick and those left in garrison, more than 2,600 
regular troops, 360 mounted volunteers, and 36 guides and 
spies, to go with him beyond Fort Jefferson ; but he adds — 

This is not a pleasant picture, but something must be done 
immediately, to save the frontiers from impending savage 
fury. 

I will, therefore, advance to-morrow with the force I have, 
in order to gain a strong position about six miles in front of 
Fort Jefferson, so as to keep the enemy in check (by exciting 
a jealousy and apprehension for the safety of their own wa- 
men and children) until some favorable circumstance or op- 
portunity may present to strike with effect. 

The present apparent tranquility on the frontiers, and at 
the head of the line, is a convincing proof to me, that" the 
enemy are collected or collecting in force, to oppose the legion, 
either on its march, or in some unfavorable position for the 
cavalry to act in. Disappoint them in this favorite plan or 
manoeuvre, they may probably be tempted to attack our lines. 
In this case 1 trust they will not have much reason to triumph 
from the encounter. 

They cannot continue long embodied for want of provision 
and at their breaking up they will most certainly make some 
desperate effort upon some quarter or other ; should the 
mounted volunteers advance in force, we might yet compel 
those haughty savages to sue for peace, before the next open- 
ing of the leaves. Be that as it may, I pray you not to permit 
present appearances to cause too much anxiety either in the 
mind of the President, or yourself, on account of this army. 
Knowing the critical situation of our infant nation, and feeling 
for the honor and reputation of Government, (which I will 
support with my latest breath) you may rest assured that I 
will not commit the legion unnecessarily ; and unless more 
powerfully supported than I at present have reason to expect, 
I will content myself by taking a strong position in advance of 

*American State Papers, r. 304, 30S, 325, 357, 360. 



Wayne builds Fort Greenville. 1793. 

Jefferson, and by exerting every power, endeavor to protect 
the frontiers, and to secure the posts and army during the 
winter, or until I am honored with your further orders." 

On the 7th the legion left Cincinnati, and upon the 13th, 
without any accident, encamped upon the "strong position" 
above referred to.f Here, upon the 24th of October, he was 
joined by one thousand mounted Kentucky volunteers under 
Gen. Scott, to whom he had written pressing requests to 
hasten forward with all the men he could muster. This re- 
quest Scott hastened to comply with, and the Governor upon 
the 28th of September, had ordered, in addition, a draft of 
militia. The Kentucky troops, however, were soon dismissed 
again, until spring; but their march had not been in vain, for 
they had seen enough of Wayne's army to give them confi- 
dence in it and in him; and upon their return home, spread 
that confidence abroad, so that the full number of volunteers, 
was easily procured in the spring. J 

One attack had been made upon the troops previous to the 
23d of October, and only one ; a body of two commissioned 
and ninety non-commissioned officers and soldiers, conveying 
twenty wagons of supplies, was assaulted on the 17th, seven 
miles beyond Fort St. Clair, and Lieutenant Lowry and Ensign 
Boyd, with thirteen others, were killed. Although so little 
opposition had thus far been encountered, however, Wayne 
determined to stay where he was, for the winter, and having 
70,000 rations on hand in October, with the prospect of 120,- 
000 more, while the Indians were sure to be short of pro- 
visions, he proceeded to fortify his position ; which he named 
Fort Greenville, and which was situated upon the spot now 
occupied by the town of that name.§ This being done on the 
23d or 24th of December, a detachment was sent forward to 
take possession of the field of St. Clair's defeat. They arrived 
upon the spot upon Christmas day. " Six hundred skulls,'' 
says one present, "were gathered up and buried; when we 
went to lay down in our tents at night, we had to scrape the 

* American State Papers, t. 360. 

■fSee in American Pioneer, ii. 290, plate and account of Wayne's mede of encamp - 
ment. Also in Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, ii. 5">, a journal of the inarch. 

JMarahall, ii. 83, 84. 

2 American State Papers, v. 361. 



1794. Indians rely on the British. 429 

bones together and carry them out, to make our beds."* Here 
was built Fort Recovery, which was properly garrisoned, and 
placed under the charge of Captain Alexander Gibson. Dur- 
ing the early months of 1794, Wayne was steadily engaged 
in preparing everything for a sure blow when the time came, 
and by means of Captain Gibson and his various spies, kept 
himself informed of the plans and movements of the savages. 
All his information showed the faith in British assistance 
which still animated the doomed race of red men ; thus, two 
Pottawatomies, taken by Captain Gibson, June 5th, in reply to 
various questions, answered as follows : 

Q. — When did your nation receive the invitation from the 
British to join them, and go to war with the Americans ? 

A. — On the first of the last moon; the message was sent 
by three chiefs, a Delaware, a Shawanee, and a Miami. 

Q — What was the message brought by those Indians 
chiefs, and what number of British troops were at Roche 
de Bout, (foot of rapids of the Maumee,) on the 1st of May ? 

A. — That the British sent them to invite the Pottawatomies 
to go to war against the United States ; that they, the British, 
were then at Roche de Bout, on their way to war against the 
Americans ; that the number of British troops then there were 
about four hundred, with two pieces of artillery, exclusive of 
the Detroit militia, and had made a fortification round Colonel 
McKee's house and stores at that place, in which they had de- 
posited all their stores of ammunition, arms, clothing and pro- 
vision with which they promised to supply all the hostile Indi- 
ans in abundance, provided they would join and go with them 
to war. 

Q.. — What tribes of Indians, and what were their numbers, 
at Roche de Bout on the 1st of May? 

A. — The Chippewas, Wyandots, Shawanese, Tawas, Dela- 
wares and Miamies. There were then collected about one 
thousand warriors, and were daily coming in and collecting 
from all those nations. 

Q. — What number of warriors do you suppose actually col- 
lected at that place at this time, and what number of British 
troops and militia have promised to join the Indians to fight 
this army ? 

A. — By the latest and best information, and from our own 
knowledge of the number of warriors belonging to those nations, 
there cannot be less than two thousand warriors now assem- 

*American Pioneer, i. 294. Letter of George Will. — Dillon's Indiana, i. 360 — American 
State Papers, 1. 458. gives Wayne's statement. 



430 Evidence of British Intentions. 1794. 

bled ; and were the Pottawatomies to join, agreeably to invi- 
tation, the whole would amount to upwards of three thousand 
hostile Indians. But w^e do not think that more than fifty of 
the Pottawatomies will go to war. 

The British troops and militia that will join the Indians to 
go to w^ar against tiie Americans, will amount to fifteen hun- 
dred, agreeably to the promise of Gov. Simcoe. 

•Q. — At what time and at what place do the British and In- 
dians mean to advance against this army ? 

A. — About the last of this moon, or the beginning of the 
next, they intend to attack the legion of this place. Governor 
Simcoe, the great man who lives at or near Niagara, sent for 
the Pottawatomies, and promised them arms, ammunition, 
provisions, and clothing, and every thing they wanted, on con- 
dition that they would join him, and go to war against the 
Americans; and that he would command the whole. 

He sent us the ^ame message last vi'inter ; and again, on the 
first of the last moon, from Roche de Bout; he also said he 
was much obliged to us for our past services ; and that he 
w^ould now help us to fight, and render us all the services in 
his power, against the Americans. 

All the speeches that we have received from him, were as 
red as blood; all the wampum and feathers were painted red ; 
the M'ar pipes and hatchets were red, and even the tobacco 
was painted red. 

We received four diflerent invitations from Governor Sim- 
coe, inviting the Pottawatomies to join in the war ; the last 
^vas on the first of last moon, when he promised to join us 
with 1500 of his warriors, as before mentioned. But we wished 
for peace; except a few of our foolish young men. 

Examined, and carefully reduced to writing, at Greenville, 
this 7th of June, 1794.* 

A couple of Shawanese warriors, captured June 22d, were 
less sanguine as to their white allies, but still say that which 
proves the dependence of Indian action upon English pro- 
mises. As their evidence gives some data relative to the In- 
dian forces, as well as the temper of the western tribes, we 
extract nearly the whole of it. 

They say that they lefl Grand Glaize five moons since, i. e. 
about the time that the Indians sent in [i. c to Wayne ; the 
provisions could not be accepted] a flag, with propositions of 
peace. 

That they belonged to a party of twenty, who have been 
hunting all this spring on tiie waters of the Wabash, nearly 

* American State Popers, v. 4S3. 



1794. Forces of the Indians. 431 

opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and were on their 
return when taken. That, on their way in, they met with a 
party consisting of four Indians, i. e. three Delawares and one 
Pottawatomie, who were then on their way to the Big-bone 
Lick, to steal horses ; that this party inforn^ed them that all 
the Indians on White river were sent for to come immediately 
to Grand Glaize, where the warriors of several nations were 
now assembled ; that the chiefs are yet in council, and would 
not let their warriors go out ; that they could not depend upon 
the British for effectual support ; that they were always set- 
ting the Indians on like dogs after game, pressing them to go 
to war, and kill the Americans, but did not help them ; that 
unless the British would turn out and help them, they were 
determined to make peace ; that they would not be any longer 
amused by promises only. 

That the Shawanese have 389 warriors at, and in the vi- 
cinity of Grand Glaize ; and generally can, and do, bring into 
action, about 300. Their great men, or sachems, are the Black 
Wolf, and Kakia-pi-la-thy, or Tame Hawk ; their principal 
warriors are Blue Jacket, and Captain Johnny ; that the Dela- 
wares have in and about Grand Glaize, 480 warriors; that 
they actually had four hundred in the action against St. Clair ; 
that the Miamies are at present but about one hundred war- 
riors, who live near Grand Glaize, several of them having re- 
moved towards Post Vincennes, and by the Mississippi ; that 
the Wyandots never send into action more than about one 
hundred and fifty warriors ; they live along the lake, towards 
Sandusky; they don't know the number of the Pottawato- 
mies, nor the number of the other Indians or nations that 
would actually join in war, should they determine to continue 
it; that the Chippewas would be the most numerous, and were 
generally on their way to the council ; but that war or peace 
depended on the conduct of the British ; if they would help 
them, it would probably be war, but if they would not, it 
would be peace ; that the Indians would no longer be set on 
like dogs, by themselves, unless the British would help them 
to fight ; that the British were at the foot of the rapids, and 
had fortified at Roche de Bout ; that there were a great num- 
ber of British soldiers at that place; that they told the Indians 
they were now come to help them to fight ; and if the Indians 
would generally turn out and join them, they would advance 



432 Fort Recovery Attacked. 1794. 

and fight the American army ; that Blue Jacket had been sent 
by the British to the Chippevvas, and northern Indians, a con- 
siderable time since, to invate them, and bring them to Roche 
de Bout, there to join the British and other hostile Indians, in 
order to go to war.* 

And the conduct of the savages proved these tales not to be 
fables : on the 30th of June, Fort Recovery, the advanced 
American post, was assaulted by the Little Turtle, at the 
head of one thousand to one thousand five hundred warriors ; 
and although repelled, the assailants rallied and returned to 
the charge, and kept up the attack through the whole of that 
day, and a part of the following. Nor was this assailing force 
entirely composed of natives; General Wayne, in his de- 
spatch, says, his spies " report a great number of white men 
wdth the Indians ;" and again they insist — 

There were a considerable number of armed white men in 
the rear, who they frequently heard talking in our language, 
and encouraging the savages to persevere in the assault ; that 
their faces were generally blacked, except three British 
officers, who were dressed in scarlet, and appeared to be men 
of great distinction, from being surrounded by a large body of 
white men and Indians, who were very attentive to them. 
These kept a distance in the rear of those that were engaged. 

Another strong corroborating fact, says General Wayne, 
that there were British, or British militia, in the assault, is, 
that a number of ounce balls and buck shot were lodged in 
the block- houses and stockades of the fort. Somt^ were de- 
livered at so great a distance as not to penetrate, and were 
picked up at the foot of the stockades. 

It would also appear that the British and savages expected 
to find the artillery that were lost on the 4th of November, 
1791, and hid by the Indians in the beds of old fallen timber, or 
logs, which they turned over and laid the cannon in, and then 
turned the logs back into their former berth. It was in this 
artful manner that we generall}' found them deposited. The 
hostile Indians turned over a great number of logs, during the 
assault, in search of those cannon, and other plunder, which 
they had probably hid in this manner, after the action of the 
fourth of November, 1791. 

I, therefore, have reason to believe that the British and In- 
dians depended much upon this artillery to assist in the reduc- 
tion of that post ; fortunately, they served in its defence. f 

On the 26th of July, Scott, with some sixteen hundred 

* AmericaQ Stato Papers, v. 489. 
t American State Papers, v. 488. 



1794. Wayne's last offer nf Peace. 433 

mounted men from Kentucky, joined Wayne at Greenville,* 
and on the 28th the legion moved Ibrward.f On the 8th of 
August, the army was near the junction of Auglaize and Mau- 
mee, at Grand Glaize, and proceeded at once to build Fort 
Defiance, where the rivers meet.J The Indians had hastilj- 
abandoned their towns upon hearing of the approach of the 
army from a runaway member of the Quartermaster's corps, 
who was afterwards taken at Pittsburgh. It had been Wayne's 
plan to reach the head-quarters of the savages. Grand Glaize, 
undiscovered ; and in order to do this, he had caused two roads 
to be cut, one towards the foot of the rapids, (Roche de Bout,) 
the other to the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph, while 
he pressed forward between the two ; and this stratagem, he 
thinks would have been successful but for the deserter referred 
to.§ While engaged upon Fort Defiance, the American com- 
mander received full and accurate accounts of the Indians, 
and the aid they would receive from the volunteers of Detroit 
and elsewhere; he learned the nature of the ground, and the 
circumstances favorable and unfavorable; and upon the whole, 
considering the spirit of his troops, ofiicers and men, regulars 
and volunteers, he determined to march forward and settle 
matters at once. But yet, true to the last, to the spirit of com- 
promise and peace, so forcibly taught by Washington, on the 
13th of August he sent Christopher Miller, who had been nat- 
uralized among the Shawanese, and had been taken prisoner 
on the 11th, by Wayne's spies, as a special messenger, ofiering 
terms of friendship in these words : 

To the Delawares, Shawanese, Mlamies, and Wyandnts, and to 
each and every of them, and to all other nations of Indians, 
north-ivest of the Ohio, whom it may concern : 

I, Anthony Wayne, Major General and Commander-in- 
chief of the federal army now at Grand Glaize, and commis- 
sioner plenipotentiary of the United States of America, for 
settling the terms upon M^hich a permanent and lasting peace 
shall be made with each and every of the hostile tribes, or 
nations of Indians north-west of the Ohio, and of the said 
United States, actuated by the purest principles of humanit}', 
and urged by pity for the errors into which bad and designing 

* Marshall, ii. 136. 

•j" American Pioneer, i. 315, Daily Journal of Wayne's army. 
% See American Pioneer, ii. 3S7, for plan and account of Fort Defiance. 
I Wayne's letter of August 11th. (American State Papers, v. 490.) 



434 }Vayne Marches doirn the Mauvice. 1794. 

men have led you, from the head of my army, now in pos- 
session of your abandoned villages and settlements, do here- 
by once more extend the friendly hand of peace towards you, 
and invite each and every of the hostile tribe of Indians to 
appoint deputies to meet me and my army, without delay, 
between this place and Roche de Bout, in order to settle the 
preliminaries of a lasting peace, which may eventually and 
soon restore to you, the Delawares, Miamies, Shawanese, and 
all other tribes and nations lately settled at this place, and on 
the margins of the Miami and Auglaize rivers, your late 
grounds and possessions, and to preserve you and your dis- 
tres.sed and hapless women and children from danger and 
famine, during the present fall and ensuing winter. 

The arm of the United States is strong and j)Owerful, but 
they love mercy and kindness more than war and desolation. 

And, to remove any doubts or apprehensions of danger to 
the persons of the deputies whom you may appoint to^meet 
this arm}', I hereby pledge my sacred honor for their safety 
and return, and send Christopher Miller, an adopted Shawa- 
nee, and aShavvanee warrior, whom 1 took prisoner two days 
ago, as a Hag, who will advance in their front to meet me. 

j\ir. Miller was taken prisoner by a party of my warriors, 
six moons since, and can testify to you the kindness which I 
have shown to your people, my prisoners, that is, five war- 
riors and two women, who are now all safe and well at 
Greenville. 

But, should this invitation be disregarded, and my flag, Mr. 
Miller, be detained, or injured. I will immediately order all 
those prisoners to be put to death, without distinction, and 
some of them are known to belong to the first families of 
your nation. 

Brothers : — Be no longer deceived or led astray by the false 
promises and language of the bad white men at the foot of 
the Rapids ; they have neither power nor inclination to pro- 
tect you. No longer shut your eyes to your true interest and 
happiness, nor your ears to this overture of peace. But, in 
pity to your innocent women and children, come and prevent 
the further effusion of your blood ; let them experience the 
kindness and friendship of the United States of America, and 
the invaluable blessings of peace and tranquility.*^ 

ANTHONY WAYNE. 

Grand Glaizc, August 13th, 1794. 

Unwilling to waste time, the troops moved forward on the 
15th, and on the 16th met Miller returning, with the message, 
that if the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize, 

'American Stato Paper?, v. 490. 



1794. Wayne's Battle. 435 

they (the Indians) would decide for peace or war;* which 
Wayne replied to only by marching straight on. On the 18th, 
the legion had advanced forty-one miles from Grand Glaize, ) 
and being near the long-looked for foe, began to throw up 
some light works called Fort Deposite, wherein to place the j 
heavy baggage during the expected battle. On that day, 
five of Wayne's spies, among whom was JMay, the man who 
had been sent after Trueman and had pretended to desert to 
the Indians, rode into the very camp of the enemy ; in at- 
tempting to retreat again, May's horse fell and he was ta- 
ken. The next day, the day before the battle, he was tied to 
a tree and shot at as a target. f During the IBth, the army 
still labored on their works : on the 20th, at seven or eight 
o'clock, all baggage having been left behind, the white forces 
moved down the north bank of the Maumee — 

The legion on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee ;\ 
one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Briga- 
dier General Todd, and the other in the rear under Brigadier 
General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers 
moved in front of the Legion, commanded by Major Price, 
who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced, so as to give 
timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it 
being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide 
for peace or war. 

After advancing about five miles, Major Price's corps re- 
ceived so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted 
in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. 
The legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally 
in a close thick wood, which extended for miles on our left, 
and for a very considerable distance in front ; the ground being 
covered with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tor- 
nado, which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act 
with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert 
for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three 
lines, within supporting distance of each other, and ex- 
tending for near two miles at right angles with the river. I 
soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of 
their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in pos- 
session of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn our 
left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second Hne to ad- 
vance and support the first ; and directed Major General 
Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the 
whole of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route ; at 

* American Pioneer, i. 317. 

fAmerican Pioneer, i. 52, 318. — American State Papi.r3, v. 243. 



436 IVai/nc's Battle. 1794. 

the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge 
with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from their coverts at 
the point of the bayonet, and when up to deliver a close and 
well-directed lire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, 
so as not to give them time to load again. 

I also ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded the le- 
gionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the 
river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to 
act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and prompti- 
tude ; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first 
line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian militia and 
volunteers, were drove from all their coverts in so short a 
time, that although every possible exertion was used by the 
officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals 
Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain 
their proper positions, but part of each could get up in sea- 
son to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove in 
the course of one hour, more than two miles, through the thick 
woods already mentioned, by less than one half their number. 
From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand 
combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were 
short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their al- 
lies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror 
and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet 
possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the 
influence of the guns of the British garrison, as you will ob- 
serve by the enclosed correspondence between ]Major Camp- 
])ell, the commandant, and myself, upon the occasion. 

The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the 
army, from the Generals down to the Ensigns, merit my high- 
est approbation. There were, however, some whose rank 
and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous 
point of view, and which I observed with pleasure, and the 
most lively gratitude. Among whom, 1 must beg leave to 
mention Brigadier General Wilkinson, and Colonel llam- 
tranick, the commandants of the right and left wings of the 
legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I 
must add the names of my faithful and gallant aids-de-camp, 
Captains De iiutt and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, 
who, with the Adjutant General, jMaJor Mills, rendered the 
most essential service by communicating my orders in every 
direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops 
to press for victory. * * * 

Enclosed is a particular return of the killed and wounded. 
The loss of the enemy was more than that of the Federal 
army. The woods were strewed for a considerable distance 
w ith the dead bodies of Indians, and their white auxiliaries, 
the latter armed with British nuiskets and bayonets. 

We remained three davs and nijihts on the banks of the 



1794. Wayne's Battle. 437 

Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time 
all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed 
for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, 
as well as within pistol shot of the garrison, who were com- 
pelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation 
and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and 
property of Col. McKee, the British Indian agent, and princi- 
pal stimulator of the war now existing between the United 
{States and the savages. 

The army returned to this place (Fort Defiance) on the 
27th, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and corn- 
fields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. 
There remains yet a great number of villages and a great 
quantity of corn, to be consumed or destroyed, upon the Au- 
glaize and the Maumee above this place, which will be effected 
in the course of a few days.* 

The loss of the Americans in this action was thirty-three 
killed and one hundred wounded, including twenty-one offi- 
cers, of whom, however, but five were killed. 

The army remained at Fort Defiance, busily engaged in X 
strengthening the works, until September 14th, when it 
marched for the Miami villages at the junction of the St. Jo- 
seph and the St. Mary, to build the fortress called Fort Wayne, 
which, when completed on the 22d of October, was named by 
Colonel Hamtramck, who was placed in command. During 
this time the troops suffered much from sickness, and also from 
want of flour and salt; the latter article sold on the 24th of 
September, for six dollars a pint.* On the 28th of October 
the Legion began its return march to Greenville, the volun- 
teers, who had become dissatisfied and troublesome, having 
been dispatched to that post for dismissal on the 12th of that 
month. During this time, (on the 11th or 13th) a brother of 
the Canadian taken in the action of August 20th, came to 
General Wayne with three Americans whom he had bought 
from the Indians, to exchange for his captive relation : the 
exchange was agreed to, and the messenger induced to make 
the following statement : 

Governor Simcoe, Colonel M'Kee, and Captain Brant, ar- 
rived at Fort Miami, at the foot of the Rapids, on the 30th 
ultimo, (September;) Brant had with him one hundred Indians, 
JNIohawks and Messasagoes. 

^American State Papers, v. 491.— See the English account of the battle in Weld's Tra- 
vels, ii. 211. 
t American Pioneer, 1. 354. 



438 Conduct of the British after the Battle. 1794. 

Governor Simcoe sent for the chiefs of the different hostile 
Indians, and invited them to meet him at the mouth of De- 
troit river, eighteen miles below Detroit, to hold a treaty ; 
Simcoe, Colonel jMcKee, and Captain Brant, together with 
Blue Jacket, Backongeles, the Little Turtle, Captain Johnny, 
and other chiefs of the Delavvares, Miamies, Shawanese, Ta- 
was, and Pottawatomies, set out accordingly, for the place 
assigned for the treaty, about the 1st instant : the Indians are 
well and regularly supplied with provisions from the British 
magazines, at a place called Swan Creek, near Lake Erie. 

Previously to the arrival of Governor Simcoe, Blue Jack- 
et, the Shawanese chiefs, two of the principal chief of the Ta- 
was, and the principal chiefs of the Pottawatomies, had 

agreed to accompan}' him, the said , Mith a flag to this 

place. 

Blue Jacket informed him, after the arrival of Simcoe, he 
would not now go with him, until after the intended 
treaty ; but that his wishes, at present, were for peace; that 
he did not know what propositions Governor Simcoe had to 
make them, but that he and all the chiefs would go and hear; 

and, in the interim, desired him, the said , to inquire of 

C4eneral Wayne in what manner the chiefs should come to 
him, and whether they would be safe, in case they should de- 
termine on the measure, after the treaty with Simcoe, and 

after the said should return to Detroit : had it not 

been for the arrival of Governor Simcoe, Colonel AIcKee, and 
Captain Brant, with his Indians, he is confident the chiefs, 
already mentioned, would have accompanied him to this 
place, at this time, as before related.* 

This communication was further confirmed by statements 
from the Wyandots, some of whom were in the American in- 
terest. f Indeed it appeared afterwards that on the 10th of 
October the Indians met the British at the Big Rock, and 
were advised that their griefs would be laid before the King ; 
and in connection with this, as General Wayne learned from 
the friendly Wyandots, — 

Governor Simcoe insisted, that the Indians should not listen 
to any terms of peace from the Americans, but to propose a 
truce, or suspension of hostilities, until the spring, when a 
grand council and assemblage of all the warriors and tribes 
of Indians should take place, for the purpose of compelling 
the Americans to cross to the east side of the Ohio ; and in 
the interim, advised every nation to sign a deed or convcy- 

* American State Papers, v. 520. 
t American State Papers, v. 518, 527. 



1794. Conduct of the British after the Battle. 439 

ance of all their lands, on the west side of the Ohio, to the" 
King, in trust for the Indians, so as to give the British a pre- 
text or color for assisting them, in case the Americans refused 
to abandon all their posts and possessions on the west side of 
that river ; and which the Indians should warn them to do, 
immediately after they, the Indians, were assembled in force 
in the spring, and to call upon the British to guaranty the 
lands thus ceded in trust, and to make a general attack upon 
the frontiers at the same time : that the British would be pre- 
pared to attack the Americans, also, in every quarter, and 
would compel them to cross the Ohio, and to give up the lapds 
to the Indians. 

Captain Brant also told them, to keep a good heart, and be 
strong; to do as their father advised ; that he would return home, 
for the present, with his warriors, and come again early in the 
spring, with an additional number, so as to have the whole 
summer before them, to fight, kill, and pursue the Americans, 
who could not possibly stand against the force and numbers 
that would be opposed to them ; that he had been always 
successful, and would insure them victory. But that he would 
not attack the Americans at this time, as it would only put 
them upon their guard, and bring them upon the Indians in 
this quarter, during the winter ; therefore he advised them to 
amuse the Americans with a prospect of peace, until they 
should collect in force to fall upon them early in the spring, 
and when least expected. 

That, agreeably to this plan or advice, the real hostile tribes 
will be sending flags frequently during the winter, with pro- 
positions of peace, but this is all fraud and art, to put the 
Americans off their guard. 

The British made large presents to the Indians at the late 
council, and continued to furnish them with provision from 
Colonel McKee's new stores, near the mouth of the Miamies 
of Lake Erie, where all the Indians are hutted or in tents, 
whose towns and property were destroyed last summer, and 
who will sign away their lands, and do exactly what the British 
request them ; this was the general prevailing opinion at the 
breaking up of the council ; since which period, the message 
and propositions of the 5th November, addressed to the differ- 
ent tribes of Indians proposing the treaty of the 9th of Janu- 
ary, 1789, held at the mouth of Muskingum, as a preliminary 
upon which a permanent peace should be est iblished, has 
been communicated to them ; upon which, a considerable num- 
ber of the chiefs of several of the tribes assembled again, and 
were determined to come forward to treat, say about the first of 
this moon. But Colonel McKee was informed of it, and 
advised them against the measure, and to be faithful to their 
father, as they had promised. He then made them additional 



440 The Indians seek Peace. 1794- 

presents, far beyond any thing that they had ever heretofore 
received, which inclined a majority to adhere to Governor 
Simcoe's propositions, and they returned home accordingly. 

That, notwithstanding this, the chiefs and nations are much 
divided, some for peace, and some for war; the Wyandots of 
Sandusky are for peace ; those near Detroit for war ; the Dela- 
wares are equally divided, so are the Miamies, but are de- 
pendent upon the British for provision ; the Shawanese and 
Tawas are for war; the Pottawatomies and Chippewas are 
gone home, sore from the late action. 

That such of the chiefs and warriors as are inclined for 
peace, will call a council, and endeavor to bring it about, 
upon the terms proposed, as they wish to hold their lands un- 
der the Americans, and not under the British, whose title they 
do not like.* 

News also came from the West that the Indians were cross- 
ing the Mississippi ; in New York, on the 11th of November, 
Pickering made a new treaty with the Iroquois; while in the 
north fewer and fewer of the savages lurked about Forts De- 
fiance and Wayne. Nor was it long before the wish of the 
natives to make peace became still more apparent; on the 
28th and 29th of December, the Chiefs of the Chippewas, 
Ottovvas, Sacs, Pottawatomies, and Miamies, came with peace 
messages to Col. Hamtramck,t at Fort Wayne, and on the 
24th of Januar}', 1795, at Greenville, entered, together with 
the Delawarcs, Wyandots, and Shawanese, into preliminary 
articles with the Commander-in-chief. The truth was, the 
red men had been entirely disappointed in the conduct of 
their white allies after the action of the 20th of August ; as 
Brant said, "a fort had been built in their country under pre- 
tence of giving refuge in case of necessity, but when that 
time came, the gates were shut against them as enemies. "J 
During the winter, Wayne having utterly laid waste their fer- 
tile fields, the poor savages were wholly dependent on the 
English who did not half supply them; their cattle and dogs 
died, and they were themselves nearly starved. Under these 
circumstances, losing faith in the English, and at last impress- 
ed with a respect for American power fifter the carnage ex- 

* American State Papers, v. 548, 550, 559, 566, 667. 

t See his letters to Wayne. — American Pioneer, ii. 389 to 392. 

X Stone's Brant, ii. 390. Several Mohawks wore probably engaged in the battle of 
August 20th, and Brant would have been with them but for sickness.— [Stone ii. 390^ 
note.] 



1794. The Indians Seek Peace. 441 

perienced at the hands of the "Black Snake," the various tribes, 
b}^ degrees, made up their minds to ask for peace ; during the 
winter and spring they exchanged prisoners, and made ready 
to meet Gen. Wayne at Greenville, in June, for the purpose of 
forming a definite treaty, as it had been agreed should be 
done by the preliminaries of January 24th. One scene among 
the many of that time seems deserving of a transfer to our 
pages; it is from the narrative of John Briekell, who had been 
a captive for four years among the Delawares, and adopted 
into the family of Whingwy Pooshies, or Big Cat, a noted war- 
rior of that tribe.* 

On the breaking up of spring, Briekell says, we all went up 
to Fort Defiance, and, on arriving on the shore opposite, we 
saluted the fort with around of ritles, and they shot a cannon 
thirteen times. We then encamped on the spot. On the same 
day, Whingwy Pooshies told me I must go over to the fort. 
The children hung round me crying, and asked me if I was 
going to leave them ? I told them I did not know. When M'^e 
got over to the fort, and were seated with the oflicers, Whing- 
wy Pooshies told me to stand up, which I did; he then rose 
and addressed me in about these words: "My son, there are 
men the same color with yourself. There may be some of 
your kin there, or your kin may be a great way oft' from you. 
You have lived along time with us. I call on you to say if I 
have not been a father to you ? If I have not used you as a 
father would use a son ?" 1 said, "You have used me as well 
as a father could use a son." He said, "I am glad you say so. 
You have lived long with me ; you have hunted for me ; but 
our treaty says you must be free. If you choose to go with 
the people of your own color, I have no right to say a word ; 
but if you choose to stay with me, your people have no right 
to speak. Now reflect on it, and take your choice, and tell us 
as soon as you make up your mind." 

I was silent a few minutes, in which time it seemed as if I 
almost thought of every thing. I thought of the children I 
had just left crying; I thought of the Indians I was attached 
to, and I thought of my people which I remembered; and this 
latter thought predominated, and 1 said, "I will go with my 
kin." The old man then said, "I have raised you — 1 have 
learned you to hunt. You are a good hunter — you have been 
better to me than my own sons. I am now getting old, and I 
cannot hunt. I thought you would be a support to my age. 
I leaned on you as a staff. Now it is broken— you are going 

* Brickell's Xarrative. American Pioneer, i. 53. Stone's Brant, ii. 389. American 
State Paper?, T. 520. IleckcweUler's Narrative, 4.05. American Pioneer, i. 54. Speech- o£' 
Bucliongehelas. American State Paper.=, v. 582. 

28 



442 Narrative of John Brickell. 1795. 

to leave me and I have no right to say a word, but I am ruin- 
ed." lie then sank back in tears to his seat. I heartily joined 
him in his tears — parted with him, and have never seen nor 
heard of him since.* 

During the month of June, the representatives of the north- 
western tribes began to gather at Greenville, and on the 16th 
of that month, Wayne met in council, the Delawarcs, Otto- 
was, Pottawatomies, and Eel river Indians ; and the confer- 
ences, which lasted till August lOth, commenced. On the 21st 
of June, Buckongehelas arrived; on the 23d, the Little Turtle 
and other Miamies; on the I3th of July, Tarke and other 
Wyandot Chiefs reached the appointed spot ; and upon the 
18th, Blue Jacket with thirteen Shawanese, and Masass 
with twenty Chippewas. Most of these, as it appeared by their 
statements, had been tampered with by McKee, Brant and 
other English Agents,t even after they had agreed to the pre- 
liminaries of January 24th, and while ]\Ir. Jay's treaty was 
still under discussion. J They had, however, all determined 
to make a permanent peace Mith the Thirteen Fires, and al- 
though some difficulty as to the ownership of the lands to be 
ceded, at one time seemed likely to arise, the good sense of 
Wayne and of the Chiefs prevented it, and upon the 30th of 
Jcily the treaty was agreed to which was to bury the hatchet 
forever. Between that day and the 3d of August it was en- 
grossed, and having been signed by the various nations upon 
the day last named, on the 7th was finally acted upon, and the 
presents from the United States distributed forthwith. While 
the Council was in session, some mischief had been done in 
"Virginia by a band of Shawanese, but on the 9th of Septem- 
ber these also came to Greenville, gave up their prisoners, and 
.asked for forgiveness. 

The basis of the treaty of Greenville was the previous one 
made at Fort Harmar, and its leading provisions were as fol- 
lows: 

Art. 1. Hostilities were to cease. 

Art. 2. All prisoners were to be restored. 

* See American Pioneer, i. 54. 

fSce speeches of Blue Jacket and Massass. [American Stale Papers, v. i6S,] and of 
Agooshaway, an Ottawa. [American State Papers, v. 5G6.] 

J Jay reached England June 15, 1794 ; hia treaty was concluded Nov. 19th; it was re- 
ceived by the President March 7, 1795; was submitted to the Senate June S; was agreed 
to by them on the 24th of that month; and ratified by the President Aug. 14th. 



1795. Treaty of Greenville. 443 

Art. 3. The general boundary lines between the lands of 
the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes, shall 
begin at the mouth of Cuyahoga river, and run thence up the 
same to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch 
of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the crossing 
place above Fort Lawrence; thence westwardly, to a fork of 
that branch of the Great Miami river, running into the Ohio, 
at or near which fork stood Loramie's store, and where com- 
mences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and St. 
Mary's river, which is a branch of the Miami which runs into 
Lake Erie; thence a westerly course, to Fort Recovery, which 
stands on a branch of the Wabash ; thence southwesterly, in 
a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that ri-^er opposite 
the mouth of Kentucky or Cuttawa river. And in considera- 
tion of the peace now established ; of the goods formerly re- 
ceived from the United States ; of those now to be delivered ; 
and of the yearly delivery of goods now stipulated to be made 
hereafter; and to indemnify the United States for the injuries 
and expenses they have sustained during the war; the said 
Indian tribes do hereby cede and relinquish, forever, all their 
claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly of the 
general boundary line now described ; and these lands, or any 
part of them, shall never hereafter be made a cause or pre- 
tence, on the part of the said tribes, or any of them, of war or 
injury to the United States, or any other people thereof. 

And for the same consideration, and as an evidence of the 
returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confi- 
dence in the United States, and desire to provide for their ac- 
commodation, and for that convenient intercourse which will 
be beneficial to both parties, the said Indian tribes do also 
cede to the United States the following pieces of land, to wit : 
1. One piece of land six miles square, at or near Laromie's 
store, before mentioned. 2. One piece, two miles square, at 
the head of the navigable water or landing, on the St. Mary's 
river, near Girty's town. 3. One piece, six miles square, at 
the head of the navigable waters of the Auglaize river. 4. 
One piece, six miles square, at the confluence of the Auglaize 
and Miami river, where Fort Defiance now stands. 5. One 
piece, six miles square, at or near the confluence of the rivers 
St. Marys and St. Joseph's, where Fort Wayne now stands, or 
near it. 6. One piece, two miles square, on the Wabash river, 
at the end of the portage from the Miami of the lake, and 
about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne. 7. One piece, 
six miles square, at the Ouatanon, or old Wea towns, on the 
Wabash river. 8. One piece, twelve miles square, at the 
British fort on the Miami of the lake, at the foot of the rapids. 
9. One piece, six miles square, at the mouth of the said river, 
where it empties into the lake. 10. One piece, six miles 
square, upon Sandusky lake, where a fort formerly stood. H. 



444 Trcatu of Greenville. 1795. 

One piece, two miles square, at the lower rapids of Sandusky 
river. 12. The post of Detroit, and all the lands to the north, 
the west, and the south of it, of which the Indian title has been 
extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English gov- 
ernments : and so much more land to be annexed to the Dis- 
trict of Detroit, as shall be comprehended between the river 
llosine on the south, and lake St. Clair on the north, and a 
line, the general course whereof shall be six miles distant 
from the west end of lake Erie and Detroit river. 13. The 
post of Michillimackinac, and all the land on the Island on 
which that post stands, and the main land adjacent, of which 
the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the 
French or English governments; and a piece of land on the 
Main to the north of the Island, to measure six miles, on lake 
Huron, or the Strait between lakes Huron and Michigan, and 
to extend three miles back from the water on the lake or 
Strait; and also, the Island de Bois Blanc, being an extra and 
voluntary gift of the Chippewa nation. 14. One piece of 
land, six miles square, at the mouth of Chicago river, empty- 
ing into the south-west end of lake Michigan, where a fort 
formerly stood. 15. One piece, twelve miles square, at or 
near the mouth of the Illinois river, emptying into the jMissis- 
sippi. 16. One piece, six miles square, at the old Peorias fort 
and village, near the south end of the Illinois lake, on said 
Illinois river. And whenever the United States shall think 
proper to survey and mark the boundaries of the lands hereby 
ceded to them, they shall give timely notice thereof to the said 
tribes of Indians, that they may appoint some of their wise 
chiefs to attend and see that the lines are run according to the 
terms of this treaty. 

And the said Indian tribes wall allow to the people of the 
United States, a free passage, by land and by water, as one 
and the other shall be found convenient, through their country, 
along the chain of posts herein before mentioned; that is to 
say: from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, at or 
near Loramie's store, thence, along said portage, to the St. 
Mary's, and down the same to Fort Wayne, and then down 
the Miami to Lake Erie; again, from the commencement of the 
portage, at or near Loramie's store, along the portage, from 
thence to the river Auglaize, nnd down the same to its junc- 
tion with the Miami at Fort Defiance; again, from the com- 
mencement of the portage aforesaid, to Sandu.sky river, and 
down the same to Sandusky ])ay, and Lake Erie, ami from 
Sandusky to the post which shall be taken at or near the foot 
of the rapids of the Miami of the lake; and from thence to 
Detroit. Again, from the mouth of Chicago, to the commence- 
ment of the portage between that river and the Illinois, and 
down the Illinois river to the Mississippi; also, from Fort 
Wayne, along the portage aforeeaid, which leads to the Wa- 



1795. Treaty of Greenville. 445 

bash, and then down the Wabash to the Ohio. And the said 
Indian tribes will also allow to the people of the United 
States, the free use of the harbors and mouths of rivers, along 
the lakes adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering vessels and 
boats, and liberty to land their cargoes when necessary for their 
safety. 

Art. 4. In consideration of the peace now established, and 
of the cessions and relinquishments of lands, made in the pre- 
ceding article, by the said tribes of Indians, and to manifest 
the liberality of the United States, as the great means of ren- 
dering this peace strong and perpetual, the United States re- 
linquish their claims to all other Indian lands, northward of 
the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and 
southward of the Great Lakes, and the waters uniting them, 
according to the boundary line agreed on by the United States 
and the King of Great Britain, in the treaty of peace made 
between them in the year 1783. But from this relinquishment 
by the United States, the following tracts of land are explicitly 
excepted. 1st. The tract of one hundred and fifty thousand 
acres, near the rapids of the river Ohio, which has been as- 
signed to General Clark, for the use of himself and his war- 
riors. 2d. The post at St. Vincennes, on the river Wabash, 
and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title has been, ex- 
tinguished. 3d. The lands at all other places, in possession of 
the French people, and other white settlers among them, of 
which the Indian title has been extinguished, as mentioned in 
the 3d article; and 4th. The post of Fort Massac, towards the 
mouth of the Ohio. To which several parcels of land, so ex- 
cepted, the said tribes relinquish all the title and claim, which 
they or any of them may have. 

And, for the same considerations, and with the same views 
as above mentioned, the United States now deliver to the said 
Indian tribes, a quantity of goods to the value of twenty thou- 
sand dollars, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge; 
and henceforward, every year, for ever, the United States will 
deliver, at some convenient place, northward of the river Ohio, 
like useful goods, suited to the circumstances of the Indians, 
of the value of nine thousand five hundred dollars; reckoning 
that value at the first cost of the goods in the city or place in 
the United States, where they shall be procured. The tribes 
to which those goods are to be annually delivered, and the pro- 
portions in which they are to be delivered, are the following: 

1st. To the Wyandots. the amount of one thousand dollars. 
2d. To the Delawares, the amount of one thousand dollars. 
3d. To the Shawanese, the amount of one thousand dollars. 
4th. To the Miamies, the amount of one thousand dollars. 
5th. To the Ottawas, the amount of one thousand dollars. 
6th. To the Chippewas, the amount of one thousand dollars. 
7th. To the Pottawatimas, the amount of one thousand dollars. 



446 Treaty of Greenville. 1795. 

8th. And to the Kickapoo, Wea, Eel river, Piankeshaw, and 
Kaskaskia tribes, the amount of five hundred dollars each. 

Provided, that if either of the said tribes shall hereafter, at 
an annual delivery of their share of the goods aforesaid, de- 
sire that a part of their annuity should be furnished in domes- 
tic animals, implements of husbandry, and other utensils, con- 
venient for them, and in compensation to useful artificei's who 
may reside with or near them, and be employed for their bene- 
fit, the same shall, at the subsequent annual deliveries, be fur- 
nished accordingly. 

Art. 5. To prevent any misunderstanding, about the In- 
dian lands relinquished by the United States, in the fourth ar- 
ticle, it is now explicitly declared, that the meaning of that 
relinquishment is this: the Indian tribes who have a right to 
these lands, are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting, and 
dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molesta- 
tion from the United States; but when those tribes, or any of 
them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, 
they are to be sold only to the United States; and until such 
sale, the United States will protect all the said Indian tribes, 
in the quiet enjoyment of their lands, against all citizens of 
the United vStates, and against all other white persons who in- 
trude upon the same. And the said Indian tribes again ac- 
knowledge themselves to be under the protection of the said 
United States, and no other power whatever.^ 

Art. 6th. The Indians or United States may remove and 
punish intruders on Indian lands. 

Art. 7th. Indians may hunt within ceded lands. 

Art. 8th. Trade shall be opened in substance, as by provi- 
sions in treaty of Fort Ilarmar. 

Art. 9th. All injuries shall be referred to law; not privately 
avenged ; and all hostile plans known to either, shall be re- 
vealed to the other party. 

Art. 10th. All previous treaties annulled. 

This great and abiding peace document, was signed b}' the 
various nations named in the 4th article, and dated August 
the 3d, 1795. It was laid before the Senate, December 9th, 
and ratified December 22d. So closed the old Indian wars of 
the West.f 

* See Land Laws, p. 154. 

t See the treaty and minutes of the council, American State Papers, v. 562 to 5S3. The 
treaty alone, Land Laws 154 to 159. 



APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII. 

[The following documents are of sufficient importance to 
require insertion, and yet they are not exactly suited to the 
body of this work. Instead of a cumbrous note running 
through several pages, we place them in the form of an Ap- 
pendix 

[numder I. ] 

Miami (Maumee) River, August 21, 1794. 
Sir : An Army of the United States of America, said to 
be under your command, having taken post on the banks 
of the Miami, (Maumee) for upwards of the last twenty- 
four hours, almost within the reach of the guns of this 
fort, being a post belonging to his Majesty the King of 
Great Britain, occupied by His Majesty's troops, and which I 
have the honor to command, it becomes my duty to inform my- 
self, as speedily as possible, in what light I am to view your 
making such near approaches to this garrison. I have no 
hesitation, on my part, to say, that I know of no war existing 
between Great Britain and America. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your most 
obedient and very humble servant, 

WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Reg., 
Commanding a British post on the banks of the Miami. 
To Major General Wayne, &c. 

[number II.] 

Camp on the Bank of the Miami, (Maumee,) 

August 21, 1794. 
Sir : I have received your letter of this date, requiring 
from me the motives which have moved the army under my 
command to the position they at present occupy, far within 
the acknowledged jurisdiction of the United States of Ameri- 
ca. Without questioning the authority or the propriety, sir, 
of your interrogatory, I think I may, without breach of deco- 
rum, observe to you, that were you entitled to an answer, the 
most full and satisfactory one was announced to you from the 
muzzles of my small arms, yesterday morning, in the action 
against the horde of savages in the vicinity of your post, 



448 Appendix. 1794. 

which terminated gloriously to the American arms ; but, had 
it continued until the Indians, &c. were driven under the in- 
fluence of the post and guns you mention, they would not 
have much impeded the progress of the victorious army under 
my command, as no such post was established at the com- 
mencement of the present war between the Indians and the 
United States. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your most 
obedient and very humble servant, 

ANTHONY WAYNE, Major General, 
And Commander-in-chief of the Federal Army. 

To Major William Campbell, &c. 



[number III.] 

Fort Miami, August 22d, 1794. 

Sir : Although your letter of yesterday's date fully authori- 
zes me to any act of hostility against the arm}' of the United 
States in this neighborhood, under your command, yet still 
anxious to prevent that dreadful decision which, perhaps, is 
not intended to be appealed to by either of our countries, I 
have forborne, for these two days past, to resent those insults 
you have offered to the British iiag Hying at this fort, by ap- 
proaching within pistol shot of my works, not only singly, 
but in numbers, with arms in their hands. Neither is it my 
wish to wage war with individuals ; but, should you, after 
this, continue to approach my post in the threatening manner 
you are at this moment doing, my indispensable duty to my 
king and countr}^ and the honor of my profession, will oblige 
me to have recourse to those measures, which thousands of 
either nation may hereafter have cause to regret, and which I 
solemnl}' appeal to God, I have used my utmost endeavors to 
arrest. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with much respect, your most 
obedient and very humble servant, 

WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Regiment, 

Commanding at Fort ^liami. 

Major General Wayne, &c. 



[number IV. ] 

Camp, Banks of the Miami, 22d August, 1794. 
Sir : In your letter of the 21st instant, you declare, "I have 
no hesitation, on my part, to say, that I know of no war ex- 
isting between Great Britain and America." I, on my part, 
declare the same, and that the only cause I have to entertain 



1794. Appendix. 449 

a contrary idea at present, is the hostile act you are now in 
commission of, i. e. by recently taking post far within the well 
known and acknowledged limits of the United States, and 
erecting a fortification in the heart of the settlements of the 
Indian tribes now at war with the United States. This, sir, 
appears to be an act of the highest aggression, and destructive 
to the peace and interest of the Union. Hence it becomes 
my duty to desire, and I do hereby desire and demand, in the 
name of the President of the United States, that you imme- 
diately desist from any further act of hostility or aggression, 
by forbearing to fortify, and by withdrawing the troops, artil- 
lery, and stores, under your orders and direction, forthwith, 
and removing to the nearest post occupied by his Britannic 
Majesty's troops at the peace of 1783, and which you will be 
permitted to do unmolested, by the troops under my command. 

I am, with very great respect, sir, your most obedient and 
very humble servant, ANTHONY WAYNE. 

Major William Campbell, &c. 



[number v.] 

Fort Miami, 22d August, 1794. 

Sir: I have this moment to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of this date ; in ansv^er to which I have only to say, 
that, being placed here in command of a British post, and 
acting in a military capacity only, I cannot enter into any 
discussion either on the right or impropriety of my occupying 
my present position. Those are matters that I conceive will 
be best left to the ambassadors of our diOerent nations. 

Having said this much, permit me to inform you that I cer- 
tainly will not abandon this post, at the summons of any pow- 
er whatever, until I receive orders for that purpose from those 
I have the honor to serve under, or the fortune of war should 
oblige me. I must still adhere, sir, to the purport of my 
letter this morning, to desire that your army, or indiv-iduals 
belonging to it, will not approach within reach of my cannon, 
without expecting the consequences attending it. 

Although I have said, in the former part of my letter, that 
my situation here is totally military, yet, let me add, sir, that 
I am much deceived, if His Majesty, the King of Great Bri- 
tain, had not a post on this river, at and prior to the period 
you mention. 

I have the honor to be, sir, with the greatest respect, your 
most obedient and very humble servant, 

WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Regiment, 

Commanding at Foi't JMiami. 

To Major General Wayne, &c. 



450 Appendix. 1794. 

[ N U M B E R V I. ] 

Killed and Wounded. 

The Legion had twenty-six killed, five of them officers, 
eighty-seven wounded, thirteen of them officers ; the Ken- 
tucky volunteers had seven killed, all privates, and thirteen 
wounded, three of whom were officers; — of the wounded 
eleven died: making in all dead and wounded, one liundred 
and thirty-three. — American State Papers, v. 492. 

An eye-witness (American Pioneer, i. 319) thinks there 
were near five hundi'ed Canadians in the battle. A Shawa- 
nese prisoner taken August 11, testifies thus — _ 

Question. — What number of warriors are at McKee's, and 
what nations do they belong to? 

Answer. — There are six hundred who abandoned this place 
on the approach of the Army. 

Shawanese, about - - - . 200, but not more. 
Delawares, - - . _ _ 300 

Miamies, 100 

Warriors of all other tribes, - - 100 



Total, 700 

Q. — What number are expected to assemble, in addition to 
those now at the foot of the Rapids ? 
A. — In all, about four hundred men, viz. 
Wy an dots, - - ... 300 
Tavvas, 240 



Total, 540 

Q. — What number of white men are to join and when ? 

A, — Mr. or Captain Elliot set out for Detroit six days since, 
and was to be back yesterday, with all the militia, and an ad- 
ditional number of regular troops, uhich, with those already 
there, would amount to one thousand men. This is the gene- 
ral conversation among the Indians, and Captain Elliot pro- 
mised to bring that number. Colonel McKee's son went with 
Elliot, as also the man who deserted from the army on its 
march. 

One of the Canadians taken in the battle gives the follow- 
ing estimates : 

That the Delawares have about five hundred men, inclu- 
ding those who live on both rivers, the White river, and Bean 
creek. 

That the Miamies are about two hundred warriors, part of 
them live on the St. Joseph's, eight leagues from this place ; 
that the men were all in the action, but the women are yet at 
that place, or Piquet's village; that a road leads from this 



1794. Appendix. 461 

place directly to it ; that the number of warriors belonging to 
that place, when altogether, amounts to about forty. 

That the Shawanese have about three hundred warriors ; 
that the Tawas, on this river, are two hundred and fifty ; 
that the Wyandots are about three hundred. 

That those Indians were generally in the action on the 20th 
instant, except some hunting parties. That a reinforcement 
of regular troops, and two hundred militia, arrived at Fort 
Miami a few days before the army appeared, that the regular 
troops in the fort amounted to two hundred and fifty, exclu- 
sive of the militia. 

That about seventy of the militia, including Captain Cald- 
well's corps, were in the action. That Colonel McKee, Cap- 
tain Elliot, and Simon Girty, were in the field, but at a respect- 
ful distance and near the river. 

That the Indians have wished for peace for some time, 
but that Colonel McKee always dissuaded them from it, 
and stimulated them to continue the war.— -[American State 
Papers, v. 494.] 

In a letter of August 14th, Wayne says, "The margins of 
these beautiful rivers, the Miamies of the Lake and Au Glaize, 
appear like one continued village for a number of miles both 
above and below this place, (Grand Glaize ;) nor have I 
ever before beheld such immense fields of corn in any part 
of America from Canada to Florida." [American State Pa- 
pers, v. 490.] 



CHAPTER XIV. 

POLITICAL EVENTS. 

Kentucky admitted into the Union— French influence defeated — Spanish influ- 
ence from New Orleans — A project to dismember the Union — Political parties 
formed — Federal and Anti Federal views— Whisky insurrection— SottK-ments 
in Ohio — Jay's treaty. 

During the six years through which the Indian wars of the 
West continued, many events took place of local importance, 
to which we must now^ refer. And foremost, stands the admis- 
sion of Kentucky into the Union. In 1789, she had requested 
certain changes in the law authorizing separation, which had 
been passed by Virginia, and these changes were made; it be- 
ing requested, however, at the same time, that a ninth Ken- 
tucky convention should meet, in July, 1790, to express the 
sentiments of the people of the western district, and to take 
other needful s*eps. Upon the 26th of July, accordingly, the 
Convention came together; the terms of Virginia were agreed 
to : June 1, 1792, was fixed as the date of independence ; and 
measures adopted to procure the agreement of the federal leg- 
islature. It was also resolved, that in December, 1791, per- 
sons should be chosen to serve seven months, who, on the first 
Monday in April, 1792, should meet at Danville, to form a 
constitution for the coming state, and determine what laws 
should be in force. In December, 1790, the President of the 
United States presented the subject of the admission of Ken- 
tacky to Congress, and upon the 4th of February, 1791, that 
action was taken, which terminated the long frustrated efforts 
of the land of Boone, Clark, and Logan, to obtain self-govern- 
ment. In the following December, the elections took place, 
for persons to frame a constitution, and in April, 1792, the in- 
strument which was to lie at the basis of Kentucky law, was 
prepared, mainly, it would seem, by George Nicholas, of Mer- 
cer county.* As this charter, however, was changed in some 
important features, a few years after, we shall not at this time, 
enter into any discussion of its merits and defects. 

« Marshall's Kjntucky, i. 360, -ili.— Sparks' Wa.<hington, xii. 13, .32.— Butlcr'a Ken- 
tucky, 196. 



1790-95 Movements of Genet. 453 

A second subject to be noticed, is the attempt of the agents 
of the French minister in the United States, to enlist the citi- 
zens of Kentucky ^^in an attack upon the dominions of Spain, 
in the southwest. We cannot, and need not, do more than 
refer to the state of feeling prevalent in America, in relation 
to France, from 1792 to 1795. On the 2lst of January, 1793, 
the French had taken the life of their monarch, and upon the 
18th of May, M. Genet was presented to Washington, as the 
representative of the new republic of France. This man 
brought with him ojicn instructions, in which the United States 
were spoken of as naturally neutral, in the contest between 
France and united Holland, Spain and England; and secret 
instructions, the purpose of which was to induce the govern- 
ment, and if that could not be done, the People, of the Ameri- 
can republic, to make common cause with the founders of the 
dynasty of the guillotine. In pursuance of this plan. Genet 
began a system of operations, the tendency of which was, to 
involve the People of the United States in a war with the ene- 
mies of Franc?, without any regard to the views of the fede- 
ral government : and knowing very well the old bitterness of 
the frontier-men, in relation to the navigation of the Missis- 
sippi, he formed the plan of embodying a band of troops be- 
yond the AUeghanies, for the conquest of Louisiana. Early 
in November, in 1793, four persons were sent westward to 
raise troops and issue commissions, in the name of the French 
republic. They moved openly and boldly, secure in the strong 
democratic feelings of the inhabitants of the region drained 
by the great river which Spain controlled ; and so far succeed- 
ed, as to persuade even the political founder of Kentucky, 
George Rogers Clark, to become a Major General in the armies 
of France, and Commander-in-chief of the revolutionary for- 
ces on the Mississippi.* Nor did the French emissaries much 
mistake the temper of the people of the West, as will be evi- 
dent from the following extracts ; the first of which, is from an 
address " to the inhabitants of the United States west of the 
Alleghany and Appalachian mountains," dated December 13, 
1793; the other, from a remonstrance to the President and 

«• Pitkin's United States, ii. 359, SfiO.^Qanet's pamphlet and correspondence with Mr. 
Jefferson, published in Philadelphia, 1793. — American State Paper?, i. 454 to 460.— Mar- 
shall's Kentucliy, ii- 99 to 100, 103.— Butler's Kentucky, 224 to 234, and 524 to 531. Se- 
cond edition. 



464 Address of the Democratic Society . 1790-95. 

Congress of the United States of America, which is without 
date, bat was prepared about the same time as the first paper. 

December 13, 1793. 

FcIIoiv- Citizens : — The Democratic Society of Kentucky hav- 
ing had under consideration, the measures necessary to obtain 
the exercise of your rights to the free navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi, have determined to address you upon that important 
topic. In so doing, they think that they only use the undoubt- 
ed right of citizens to consult for their common welfare. This 
measure is not dictated by party or faction ; it is the conse- 
quence of unavoidable necessity. It has become so, from the 
neglect shown by the General Government, to obtain for those 
of the citizens of the United States who are interested therein 
the navigation of that river. * * * * 

Experience, fellow-citizens, has shown us that the General 
Government is unwilling that we should obtain the navigation 
of the river Mississippi. A local policy appears to have 
an undue weight in the councils of the Union. It seems to 
be the object of that policy to prevent the population of this 
country, which would draw from the eastern States their in- 
dustrious citizens. This conclusion inevitably follows from a 
consideration of the measures taken to prevent the purchase 
and settlement of the lands bordering on the Mississippi. 
Among those measures, the unconstitutional interference 
which rescinded sales, by one of the States, to private indi- 
viduals, makes a striking object. And perhaps the fear of a 
successful rivalship, in every article of their exports, may have 
its weight. But, if they are not unwilling to do us justice, they 
are at least regardless of our rights and welfare. We have 
found prayers and supplications of no avail, and should we 
continue to load the table of Congress with memorials, from 
a part only of the western country, it is too probable that 
they would meet with a fate similar to those which have been 
formcrl}^ presented. Let us, then, all unite our endeavors in 
the common cause. Let all join in a firm and manly remon- 
strance to the President and Congress of the United States, 
stating our just and undoubted right to the navigation of the 
Mississippi, remonstrating against the conduct of government 
with regard to that right, which must have been occasioned by 
local policy or neglect, and demanding of them speedy and ef- 
fectual exertions for its attainment. We cannot doubt that you 
will cordially and unanimously join in this measure. It can 
hardly be necessary to remind you that considerable quantities 
of beef, pork, (lour, hemp, tobacco, &c., the produce of tliis coun- 
try, remain on hand for want of purchasers, or are sold at in- 
adequate prices. Much greater quantities might be raised if 
the inhabitants were encouraged by the certain sale which 
t!ie free navigation of the Mississippi would afford. An addi- 



1790-95. Address of the Deinocratic Society. 456 

tional increase of those articles, and a greater variety of pro- 
duce and manufactures, would be supplied, by means of the 
encouragement, which the attainment of that great object 
would give to emigration. But it is not only your own rights 
which you are to regard : remember that your posterity have 
a claim to your exertions to obtain and secure that right. 
Let not your memory be stigmatised with a neglect of duty. 
Let not history record that the inhabitants of this beautiful 
country lost a most invaluable right, and half the benefits 
bestowed upon it by a bountiful Providence, through your neg- 
lect and supineness. The present crisis is favorable. Spain 
is engaged in a war w^hich requires all her forces. If the 
present golden opportunity be suffered to pass without advan- 
tage, and she shall have concluded a peace with France, we 
must then contend against her undivided strength. 

But what may be the event of the proposed application is 
still uncertain. We ought, therefore, to be still upon our 
guard, and watchful to seize the first favorable opportunity to 
gain our object. In order to this, our union should be as per- 
fect and lasting as possible. We propose that societies should 
be formed, in convenient districts, in every part of the 
western country, who shall preserve a correspondence upon 
this and every other subject of a general concern. By 
means of these societies we shall be enabled speedily to know 
what may be the result of our endeavors, to consult upon 
such further measures as may be necessary to preserve union, 
and, finally, by these means, to secure success. 

Remember that it is a common cause which ought to unite 
us; that cause is indubitably just, that ourselves and posterity 
are interested, that the crisis is favorable, and that it is only 
by union that the object can be achieved. The obstacles are 
great, and so ought to be our efforts. Adverse fortune may 
attend us, but it shall never dispirit us. We may for a while 
exhaust our wealth and strength, but until the all important 
object is procured, we pledge ourselves to you, and let us all 
pledge ourselves to each other, that our perseverance and 
our friendship will be inexhaustible. 

JOHN BRECKENRIDGE, Chairman. 
Test: — Thomas Todd, ) ni^.u^ 

rr Tj i UieiKS. 

1 HOMAS JdODLEV, ) 

To the President and Congress of the United States of America. 
The remonstrance of the subscribers, citizens of the Common- 
wealth of Kentucky, showeth : — 

That your remonstrants, and the other inhabitants of the 
United States, west of the Alleghany and Apalachian moun- 
tains, are entitled, by nature and stipulation, to the free and 



456 Genet's Plans Defeated. 1790-95. 

undisturbed navigation of the river Mississippi ; and that, 
from the year 17S3 to this day, they have been prevented uni- 
formly, by the Spanish king, from exercising that right. Your 
remonstrants have observed, with concern, that the General 
Government, whose duty it was to have preserved that right, 
have used no eflectual measures for its attainment ; that even 
their tardy and inefi'ectual negotiations have been veiled with 
the most mysterious secrecy ; that that secrecy is a violation 
of the political rights of the citizens, as it declares that the 
people are unfit to be entrusted with important facts relative 
to their rights, and that their servants may retain Irom them 
the knowledge of those facts. Eight years are surely sulli- 
cient for the discussion of the most doubtful and disputable 
claim. The right to the navigatioh of the Mississippi admits 
neither of doubt nor dispute. Your remonstrants, therefore, 
conceive that the negotiations on that subject have been un- 
necessarily lengthy, and they expect that it be demanded 
categorically of the Spanish king whether he will acknow- 
ledge the right of the citizens of the United States to the free 
and uninterrupted navigation of the river Mississippi, and 
cause all obstructions, interruption, and hindrance to the ex- 
ercise of that right, in future, to be withdrawn and avoided ; 
that immediate answer be required, and that such answer be 
the final period of all negotiations upon the subject. 

Your remonstrants further represent, that the encroachment 
of the Spaniards upon the territory of the United States, is 
a striking and melancholy proof of the situation to which our 
country will be reduced, if a tame policy should still continue 
to direct our councils. 

Your remonstrants join their voice to that of their fellow- 
citizens in the Atlantic States, calling for satisfaction for the 
injuries and insults oli'ered to America; and they expect such 
satisfaction shall extend to every injury and insult done or 
ofiered to any part of America, by Great Britain and Spain; 
and as the detention of the posts, and the interruption to the 
navigation of the xMississippi, are injuries and insults of the 
greatest atrocity, and of the longest duration, they require 
the most particular attention to those subjects.* 

But the government had taken measures to prevent tlie pro- 
posed movements from being carried into effect. The Gov- 
ernor of Kentucky, Isaac Shelby; Governor St. Clair, and 
General Wayne, were all written to: and, by the preparation 
of troops, the renewal of Fort Massac, f the dissemination of 
just views among the people, an I the request made of the 
French government that Genet should be recalled, the plans 

» American State rapcrs. xx. 929, 9r.O. 

t Sec American Pioneer, ii. 220. — See on the whole subject, Marshall, ii. 9C to 122. 



1790-95. GencCs Plans Defeated. 457 

of that mischief-maker and his agents were effectually de- 
feated : the rulers of France disowned his acts — he was 
ordered back to Europe — and in May, 1794, his western emis- 
sary was forced to write to the Democratic Society of Lexing- 
ton in these words : — 

To the Democratic Society of Lexington : 

Citizens : — Events, unforeseen, the effects of causes which it 
is unnecessary here to develop, have stopped the march of 
two thousand brave Kentuckians, who, strong in their courage, 
in the justice of their rights, their cause, the general assent of 
their fellow-citizens, and convinced of the brotherly disposi- 
tion of the Louisianians, waited only for their orders to go, 
by the strength of their arms, take from the Spaniards the 
despotic usurpers of the empire of the Mississippi, ensure to 
their country the navigation of it, break the chains of the 
Americans, and their brethren the French, hoist up the flag of 
liberty in the name of the French republic, and lay the foun- 
dation of the prosperity and happiness of two nations situated 
so, and destined by nature to be one, the most happy in the 
universe. * * * * * * * * * 

Accept, citizens, the farewell, not the last, of a brother who 
is determined to sacrifice every thing in his power for the 
liberty of his country, and the prosperity of the generous in- 
habitants of Kentucky. 

Sainton la patrie, AUGUSTE LACHAISE.* 

This letter was followed by a meeting in Lexington, which 
denounced Washington and all who supported him, especially 
Jay. It also proposed a convention for the indefinite purpose 
of deliberating on the steps expedient to secure the just rights 
of the people : the proposition produced no result. [See 
Butler's Kentucky, 234.] Up to April, 1794, there were pre- 
parations still going on; John S. Gano of Cincinnati, on the 
8th or 9i;h of that month, passed through Lexington: he found 
the Genet plan generally liked, cannon casting, ammunition 
subscribed, and heard of boats building at the Falls. It had 
been previously dropped for a time from want of funds. 

Notwithstanding Genet's defeat, M. Adet, the minister of 
France in 1796, appears to have sent emissaries into the West 
in the spring of that year, to renew the process of exciting dis- 
affection to the Union. They were General Collot and M. 
Warin. Information of the plan having been communicated 

* American State Papers, xx. 931. 

29 



458 Charges against Wilkinson. 1790-95. 

to the Executive, an agent was sent after the Frenchmen to 
Avatch them, and counteract their purposes. This person 
saw Collot at Pittsburgh, and learned 'his plans; he was 
to visit Kentucky, Fort Washington, the South-west, Vin- 
cennes, Kaskaskia and St. Louis; he carried strong letters to 
Wilkinson, and relied especially on Sebastian. The govern- 
ment appears to have brought the whole plot to naught, in 
silence. [Evidence of these facts is to be found in the letter 
of the agent employed; in the memoranda of Oliver Wolcott, 
secretary of the treasury; and in the Memoirs of the Admin- 
istrations of Washington and John Adams, by George Gibbs, 
published in New York in 1846, vol. i. 350 to 356.] 

A third topic relative to Kentucky, which we now have to 
notice as connected with the period we are treating of, is 
the Spanish intrigue with Wilkinson, Sebastian, Innis, and 
Nicholas. 

In 1787, General Wilkinson had made his last trip to New 
Orleans; in February, 1788, he returned to Kentucky, and the 
following year again visited the south, with which he con- 
tinued to hold regular intercourse until 1791, when he 
began to take part in the Indian wars of the north-west. 
During this period, his operations were to appearance, meuely 
commercial, and the utmost reach of his plans, the formation 
of a kind of mercantile treaty with the Spanish provinces, 
by which the navigation of the Mississippi might be secured 
as a privilege, if not a right. We cannot enter into an ex- 
amination of the mass of evidence brought forward in later 
times, (from 1807 to 1811,) to sustain the charge brought 
against Wilkinson of having received a pension from the 
Spanish Government, in return for which he was to play the 
traitor to his country and effect a disunion of the States. In 
1809, he was brought before a court of inquiry, and entirely 
acquitted of the charge ; and again, in 1811, he was tried be- 
fore a court martial, and every particle of evidence that 
could be found by his most inveterate enemies, without regard 
to legal ^ormalitie^», which the accused dispensed with, was 
gathered, to overwhelm him ; but he w^as declared innocent 
by tiie court of every charge preferred against him. Nor does 
our own examination of the evidence lead us to doubt the 
correctness of the decision in his favor ; the chief witnesses; 
who criminated him were of the worst character, and most 



1790-95. Sebastian'' s Intrigues. 459 

vindictive tempers, and not a circumstance was fairly, clearly 
proved that could not be explained by the avowed mercantile 
relations which he succeeded in establishing with the Spanish 
governors at New Orleans. Those governors may, very prob- 
ably, have hoped to see his business connections turn into po- 
litical ones, but there is no cause to think they ever did so.* 

Among the plans of the Spanish officials in Louisiana, was 
one of encouraging emigration thither from the United States, 
and this had been fully disclosed to Wilkinson, who furnished 
a list of probable emigrants, and interested himself generally 
in the matter.f Among the persons recommended by him to 
Gov. Miro, was Benjamin Sebastian, a lawyer of Kentucky, 
and in September, 1789, the Governor wrote to Sebastian, 
relative to the proposed measure. J In that letter, the wish of 
Spain to establish friendly relations with the Ohio settlers was 
named, and an offer of certain commercial privileges held out. 
The communication thus opened with Sebastian, was proba- 
bly continued ; and when the Baron de Carondelet succeeded 
Gen. Miro, he wrote to him in July, 1795, the following 
letter: % 

New Orleans, July 16, 1795. 

Sir : — The confidence reposed in you by my predecessor, 
Brigadier General Miro, and your former correspondence with 
him, have induced me to make a communication to you high- 
ly intercbting to the country in which you live, and to Louis- 
iana. 

Ilis iMajesty, being willing to open the navigation of the 
Mississippi to the people of the western country, and being 
also desirous to establish certain regulations, reciprocally 
beneficial to the commerce of both countries, has ordered me 

* Depositions of George Mather and William Wickofi, jr., in Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 
103, 104. Deposiiion of A. Ellicott, Amtrican State Papers, xsi. 89 (12th interrogation.) 

The evidence in rtlation to Wilkinson, is in American State Papers, xx. 704 to 713, 936 
to 939 ; sxi. 79 to 127 ; in report of the committee of the Uoui-e of Representatives, Wash- 
ington, ISll ; in " Proofs of the corruption of General James Wilkinson, by Daniel Clark." 
See also append i.\ to Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. — also his argument to the Court Martial, 
Memoirs, ii. 41 to 268. 

A letter in Dillon's Indians, i. 412, from Wilkinson to Captain Buntin, is worthy of no- 
tice, as a proof in favor of Wilkinson's intentions in 1797. 

For charges against him, see Memoirs, ii. 35 to 40 

For sentence of Court of Inquiry, do. pp. 12, 13. 

For do. Court Martial, do. pp. 565 to 576. 

The charges before the Court Marshal and its sentence, are also inNiles' Register, i. 469, 
to 474. 

"f Memoirs, ii. 112. 

X American State Papers, xx. 706 and 926. 



460 Sebastian's Intrigues. 1790-95. 

to proceed on the business, and to effect, in a way the most 
satisfactory to the people of the western country, his benevo- 
lent designs. 

I have, therefore, made this communication to you, in ex- 
pectation that you will procure agents to be chosen and fully 
empowered by the people of your country to negotiate with 
Col. Gayoso on the subject, at New Madrid, whom I shall 
send there in October next, properly authorized lor that pur- 
pose, with directions to continue in that place, or its vicinity, 
until the arrival cf your agents. 

I am, by information, well acquainted with the character of 
some of the most respectable inhabitants of Kentucky, par- 
ticularly of Innis, Nicholas, and Murray, to whom I wish you 
to communicate the purport of this address; and, should you 
and those gentlemen think as important of it as I do, you will 
doubtless accede, without hesitation, to the proposition I have 
made of sending a delegation of your countrymen, sufficiently 
authorized to treat on a subject which so deeply involves the 
interest of both our countries. 

I remain, with every esteem and regard, sir, 

Your most obedient, humble servant, 

THE BARON OF CARONDELET. 

Innis, Nicholas and Murray, were consulted, and the result 
was a visit by Sebastian, first to New Madrid, where he con- 
ferred with Gayoso, and then to New Orleans, where he met 
with the Baron himself. Before, however, terms were agreed 
on, news came that the Federal Government had concluded a 
treaty with Spain, covering the whole subject, and the mes- 
senger, in 1796, returned to Kentucky.* During the summer 
of the next year, 1797, Thomas Power came to Kentucky 
from Louisiana, and sent Sebastian the following communica- 
tion, which he in turn communicated to Innis and Nicholas, 
who sent to Sebastian a reply which we also give. 

His Excellency, the Baron of Carondelet, Commander-in- 
chief and Governor of his Catholic JMajesty's provinces of 
West Florida, and Louisiana, having communications of im- 
portance, embracing the interests of said provinces, and at 
the same time deeply affecting those of Kentucky, and the 
western country in general, to make to its inhabitants 
through the medium of the influential characters in this 
country, and judging it, in the present uncertain and critical 
attidude of" politics, highly imprudent and dangerous to lay 
them on paper, has expressly commissioned and authorized 
me to submit the following proposals to the consideration oi 
Messrs. S., N., I., and M. [Sebastian, Nicholas, Innir, and 

* Deposition of Innis. American State Papers, xr. 925 to 927. 



1790-95. Power s Letter to Sebastian. 461 

Murray,] and also of such other gentlemen, as may be pointed 
out by them, and to receive from them their sentiments and 
determination on the subject. 

1. The above named gentlemen are immediately to exert 
all their influence in impressing on the minds of the inhabi- 
tants of the western country, a conviction of the necessity of 
their withdrawing and separating themselves from the Federal 
Union, and forming an independent government, wholly un- 
connected with that of the Atlantic States. To prepare and 
dispose the people for such an event, it will be necessary that 
the most popular and eloquent writers in this State should, in 
well-timed publications, expose, in the most striking point of 
view, the inconveniences and disadvantages, that a longer 
connexion with, and dependence on, the Atlantic States, must 
inevitably draw upon them, and the great and innumerable 
difficulties in which they will probably be entangled if they 
do not speedily secede from the Union ; the benefits they will 
certainly reap from a secession, ought to be pointed out in the 
most forcible and powerful manner; and the danger of per- 
mitting the federal troops to take possession of the posts on 
the Mississippi ; and thus forming a cordon of fortified places 
around them, must be particularly expatiated upon. In con- 
sideration of gentlemen's devoting their time and talents to 
this object, his Excellency, the Baron of Carondelet, will ap- 
propriate the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to their 
use, which shall be paid in drafts on the royal treasury at New 
Orleans ; or if ntore convenient, shall be convej'ed at the ex- 
pense of his Catholic Majesty, into this country, and held at 
their disposal. Moreover, should such persons as shall be in- 
strumental in promoting the views of his Catholic Majesty, 
hold any public employment, and in consequence of taking an 
active part in endeavoring to effect a secession, shall lose 
their employment — a compensation equal at least to the 
emoluments of their office, shall be made to them, by his 
Catholic Majesty, let their efforts be crowned with success, or 
terminate in disappointment. 

2. Immediately aft^r the declaration of independence, Fort 
Massac should be taken possession of by the troops of the 
new government, which shall be furnished by his Catholic 
Majesty without loss of time, together with twenty field- 
pieces, with their carriages, and every necessary appendage, 
including powder, ball, &c., together with a number of small 
arms and ammunition, sufficient to equip the troops that it 
shall be judged expedient to raise. The whole to be trans- 
ported at his expense to the already named Fort Massac. His 
Catholic Majesty will further supply the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars for the raising and maintaining said troops, 
which sum shall also be conveyed to and delivered at Fort 
Massac. 



462 Project of Spain to dismember the Union. 1790-95. 

3. The northern boundary of his Catholic Majesty's pro- 
vinces of East and West Florida shall be designated by a 
line commencing on the Mississippi at the mouth of the river 
Yazoo, extending due east to the River Confederation, or 
Tombigbee : Provided, That all his Catholic Majesty's forts, 
posts, and settlements on the Conl'ederation or Tombigbee are 
included in the south side of such a line, but should any of 
his Majesty's forts, posts or settlements fall to the north side 
of said line, then the northern boundary of his Majesty's 
provinces of East and West Florida, shall be designated 
by a line beginning at the same point on the Mississippi, and 
drawn in such a direction as to meet the River Confederation 
or Tombigbee, six miles to the north of the most northern 
Spanish post, or settlement on the said river. All the lands 
north of that line shall be considered as constituting a part 
of the territory of the new government, saving that small 
tract of land at the Chickasaw Bluffs, on the eastern bank of 
the Mississippi, ceded to his Majesty by the Chickasaw nation 
in a formal treaty concluded on the spot, in the year 1795, 
between His Excellency Senor Don Manuel Gayoso de Le- 
mos, governor of Natchez, and Augleakabee and some other 
Chickasaw chiefs ; which tract of land his Majesty reserves 
for himself. The eastern boundary of the Floridas shall be 
hereafter regulated. 

4. His Catholic Majesty will, in case the Indian nations 
south of the Ohio should declare war or commit hostilities 
against the new government, not only join and assist it in 
repelling its enemies, but if said Govrrnmejit shall at any fu- 
ture time esteem it useful to reduce said Indian nations, ex- 
tend its dominion over them, and compel them to submit 
themselves to its constitution and laws, his Majesty will 
heartily concur and co-operate with the new government in 
the most effectual manner in obtaining this desirable end. 

5. His Catholic IMajesty will not either directly or indirectly 
interfere in the framing of the constitution or laws which the 
new government shall think fit to adopt ; nor will he, at any 
time, by any means whatever, attempt to lessen the inde- 
pendence of the said government, or endeavor to acquire an 
undue influence in it, but will, in the manner that shall here- 
after be stipulated by treaty, defend and support it in pre- 
serving its independence. 

The preceding proposals, are the outlines of a provisional 
treaty, which his Excellency the Baron of Carondelet, is desi- 
rous of entering into with the inhabitants of the western 
country, the moment they shall be in a situation to treat for 
themselves. Should they not meet entirely with your appro- 
bation, and should you wish to make any alterations in, or ad- 
ditions to them, I shall on my return, if you think proper to 
communicate them to me, lay them before His Excellency, 



1790-95. Reply of liinis and Nicholas. 463 

who is animated with a sincere and ardent desire to foster 
this promising and rising infant country, and at the same time, 
promote and fortify the interests of his beneficent and royal 
master, in securing by a generous and disinterested conduct, 
the gratitude of a just, sensible and enlightened people. 

The important and unexpected events that have taken place 
in Europe since the ratification of the treaty concluded on the 
27th of October, 1795, between His Catholic Majesty and the 
United States of America, having convulsed the general sys- 
tem of politics in that quarter of the globe, and wherever its 
influence is extended, causing a collision of interests betvv^een 
nations formerly living in the most perfect union and harmony, 
and directing the political views of some States towards ob- 
jects the most remote from their former pursuits, but none 
being so completely unhinged and disjointed as the cabinet of 
Spain, it may be confidently asserted, without incurring the 
reproach of presumption, that His Catholic Majesty will not 
carry the above-mentioned treaty into execulion ; neverthe- 
less, the thorough knowledge I have of the disposition of the 
Spanish Government justifies me in saying that, so far from 
its being His Majesty's wish to exclude the inhabitants of this 
western country from the free navigation of the Mississippi, or 
withhold from them any of the benefits stipulated for them by 
the treaty, it is positively his intention, so soon as they shall put 
it in his power to treat with them, by declaring themselves in- 
dependent of the Federal Government, and establishing one 
of their own, to grant them privileges far more extensive, 
give them a decided preference over the Atlantic States in his 
commercial connexions with them, and place them in a situa- 
tion infinitely more advantageous, in every point of view, 
than that in which they would find themselves were the 
treaty to be carried into effect. 

THOMAS POWER. 

REPLY. 

Sir: — We have seen the communication made by you to 
Mr. Sebastian. In answer thereto, we declare uneciuivocally, 
that we will not be concerned, either directly or indirectly, in 
any attempt that may be made to separate the western coun- 
try from the United States. That whatever part we may at 
any time be induced to take in the politics of our country, that 
her welfare will be our only inducement, and that we will 
never receive any pecuniary, or any other reward, for any 
personal exertions made by us, to promote that welfare. 

The free navigation of the Mississippi must always be the 
favorite object of the inhabitants of the western country; they 
cannot be contented without it ; and will not be deprived of 
it longer than necessity shall compel them to submit to its be- 
ing withheld from them. 



464 Reply of Innis and Nicholas. 1790-95 

We flatter ourselves that every thing will be set light, by 
the governments of the two nations; but if this should not be 
the case, it appears to us, that it must be the policy of Spain 
to encourage by every possible means, the free intercourse 
with the inhabitants of the western country, as this will be 
the most efiicient means to conciliate their good will, and to 
obtain without hazard, and at reduced prices, those supplies 
which are indispensably necessary to the Spanish Govern- 
ment and its subjects,* 

Whether Sebastian signed this reply, is not known; but upon 
proof that he had, for years afterwards, received two thousand 
dollars annually as a pension from Spain for services render- 
ed, it was unanimously adjudged by the House of Represent- 
atives, in Kentucky, on the 6th of December, 180G, that he 
had been guilty, while holding the place of Judge of the Court 
of Appeals, of carrying on a criminal intercourse with the 
agents of the Spanish Government, and disgracing his coun- 
try for pay. Before this decision, however, Sebastian had 
resigned his place, and thenceforward was lost to the councils 
of the State. 

[Concerning this attempt to divide the Union, and erect a 
western confederacy, to be in alliance with Spain, theie has 
been doubt and contradictory statements ; but the referen- 
ces given to the public documents, and other authorities, will 
enable the reader who is disposed more fully to investigate 
the whole subject, to arrive at satisfactory' conclusions. 

In the month of August, 1798, Spain formed an alliance 
with France. In December, France quarreled with the United 
States. At the time of the visit of Power, Spain still held the 
ports east of the Mississippi, which, by the treaty of 1795, 
were to be given up; and maintained a hostile attitude to- 
wards the United States. These facts illustrate the intrigues 
of Spain. The strongest circumstance in favor of Sebastian, 
is, that no proof was given to show he had done any overt 
act, in the project of disunion. f] 

We have so far, said nothing of those political parties which 
divided the United States during the administration of Wash- 
ington; for, though it is not to be doubted that the contests of 
those parties gave Genet cause to trust in his ])lans of con- 

* Am'riwiu Sta'c Paper;", xx. 92?., 929. 

t Seo DocumeuU in American State rapor?, xx. 922 to 934. Alar.-liaU's Kentucky, ii. 
377 to 384. 



1790-95 Political Parties in the United States. 465 

quest, and supported the hopes of Sebastian and his Spanish 
employers, yet their operations were not directly dependent 
upon the factions which rent the country. We have now, 
however, to speak of an event that derived its importance 
from its real or supposed connection with those factions, and 
which it seems proper to introduce by a brief sketch of their 
origin and character; we refer to the popular movement in 
western Pennsylvania, growing out of the excise on domestic 
spirits, commonly known as the Whiskey Insurrection. When 
the united colonies had won their independence, and the rule 
of George III. over them ended, the question, of course, arose 
as to the nature of the government which was to succeed. 
Two fears prevailed among the people of the freed provinces. 
On the one hand, a tendency to monarchy and ultimate tyran- 
ny was dreaded ; it was thought that a foreign despot had 
been warred with in vain, if by the erection of a strong cen- 
tral or Federal power the foundations of domestic despotispi 
were laid instead; the sovereignty of the several States, bal- 
ancing one another, and each easily controlled by the voice of 
the people was, with this party of thinkers, to be the security 
of the freedom that had been achieved. In Europe, republi- 
canism had been overthrown by the centralizing process, which 
had substituted the great monarchies for the Federal system, 
and the Italian and Flemish commonwealths; and in America, 
the danger, it was thought, would be, of too great a concen- 
tration of power in the hands of a central Federal sovereign- 
ty. [Governor Harrison of Virginia, and one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence, said of the Constitution, 
as first adopted, that it "must, sooner or later, establish a ty- 
ranny not inferior to the triumvirate or centumviri of Rome. 
George Mason also said of it, that it would cause the govern- 
ment to "commence a moderate aristocracy," and would final- 
ly "produce a monarchy, or a corrupt aristocracy.*] While 
these views prevailed among one portion of the American 
people, another portion dreaded the excess of popular demo- 
cratic passions, tending constantly to anarchy. To this party, 
a strong central power seemed essential, not only for financial 
and commercial purposes, but also to restrain the inevitable 

* Sparks' Washington, ix. 257. Note, also 547— Elliott's Debates, ii. 52, 213. Wash- 
ingtoa's views on the same subject, are fuund in the same volume, pp. 11, lf>7, 187, 203, 
210, 211, 258. Sec also a letter to Doctor Gorton, in the North American Review, vol.xxv. 
p. 254. (October, 1827.) 



466 Federal and anti-Federal Views. 1790-95 

disposition of popular gov^ernments to the abandonment of all 
law, all reverence, and all social unity. History and reflec- 
tion, in sliort, showed men on the one side, that human rulers 
are readily converted into despots; on the other, that human 
subjects were impatient of even wholesome control, and readi- 
ly converted into licentious, selfish anarchists. When at length 
the business sufferings of the country, and the worthlessness 
of the old confederacy, led to the formation of the present 
constitution, the two bodies of whom we have spoken, were 
forced to compromise, and while the strong executive, and 
complete centralization of Hamilton, Jay and Adams, had to 
be abandoned by them and their friends, the complete inde- 
pendence of the States, and the corresponding nullity of Con- 
gress, which Patrick Henry, Mason, and Harrison preferred, 
had also to be given up, or greater evils follow. In this same 
spirit of compromise upon which our constitution rested, 
Washington framed his cabinet, and directed his administra- 
tion, and it seemed possible, that in time the bitterness of 
feeling which had shown itself before and during the discus- 
sion of the great Bond of Union, would die away. But the 
difficulties of the first administration were enormous, such as 
no man but Washington could have met with success, and even 
he could not secure the unanimity he wished for.* Among 
those difficulties, none were greater than the payment of the 
public debt, and the arrangement of a proper system of finance. 
The party which dreaded anarchy, which favored a strong 
central rule, an efficient Federal Government — the Federalists, 
feeling that the whole country, as such, had contracted debts, 
felt bound in honor and honesty to do every thing to procure 
their payment; it also felt that the future stability and power 
of the Federal Government depended greatly upon the estab- 
lishment of its credit at the outset of its career. The anti- 

* For the views of 

IIamiltox, see Xorth American Review, xxv. 2G6. Journal of Convention at Phila- 
delphia, May 14, 1787, p. 130. 

Jay, " Sparks' Washington, ix. 510. North American Review, xxv. 263. 

Uenrv, " Sparks' Washington, ix. 266. Note, Elliott's Debates, ii. 64, 71, 139» 
147, ie. 

Madisom, " Sparks' Washington, ix. 516. North American Review, xxv. 264. 

Jefferson " Sparks' Washington, x. 518 to 526. North American Review, xxv. 267 
to 269. Jefferson's Writings, ii. 449. 

Kxox, " North American Review, xxv. 264. 



1790-95 Federal and anti-Federal Views. 467 

Federalists, who dreaded centralization, on the other hand, 
favoring State sovereignty, and cashing but a slight national 
union, neither desired the creation of a national credit, nor 
felt the obligation of a national debt in the same degree as 
their opponents, and feared the creation of a moneyed aristo- 
cracy by speculations in the public stocks. When, therefore, 
Mr. Hamilton, upon whom it devolved, as Secretary of the 
Treasury, to offer a plan for liquidating the debts of the con- 
federation, attempted the solution of the financial problem, he 
was certain to displease one party or the other. In generali- 
ties, compromises had been found possible, but in details they 
were not readily admitted. Hamilton, moreover, was one of 
the most extreme friends of centralization, and any measure 
emanating from him was sure to be resisted. When he brought 
forward his celebrated series of financial measures, accordingly, 
the whole strength of the two divisions of which we have 
been speaking, appeared for and against his plans. And it is 
to be noted, that the question was not a mere question of Fi- 
nance ; it involved the vital principles for and against which 
the Federal and anti-Federal parties were struggling. The 
former actually hoped by means of the Funding and Bank 
systems, to found a class whose interests would so bind them 
to the Government, as to give it permanency,* while their op- 
ponents actually anticipated the formation of a moneyed aris- 
tocracy, which would overthrow the power and liberties of 
the people; they felt they were "sold to stockholders," and 
like the Roman debtors condemned to slavery.f 

In the West, the opponents of the Central Government 
were numerous. Its formation had been resisted, and its mea- 
sures were almost all unpopular. The Indian War was a 
cause of complaint, because Harmar and St. Clair had been 
defeated ;J the army was a cause of complaint, because it was 
the beginning of a system of standing armies. The funding 
system was hated because of its injustice, inasmuch as it aided 

* See letter of Oliver Wolcott, dated March 27, 1790, in Gibbs, i. 43. 

■{■ Address of Democratic Club of Wythe county, Virginia, dated July 4, 1794; it is in 
the Boston Independent Chronicle, of August 11, 1794. Jefferson's letter to Washington. 
(Sparks' Washington, x. 519-521.) 

{ In the Democratic newspapers of the time, the Funding system, the Excise, the Bank, 
and the Indian war are all equally condemned. See, for example, a series of letters on 
Hamilton's financial measures in the Independent Chronicle, of Boston, July, August and 
September, 1794. 



468 First Steps in Opposition to the Excise. 1790-95 

speculation, and because it would lead to the growth of a fa- 
vored class; the western posts were held by England, the Mis- 
sissippi closed by Spain, and the frontier ravaged by the sava- 
ges, and against all, the Federal Government did what ? No- 
thing. So said the leaders of popular feeling. It was not 
strange, therefore, that the people of western Pennsylvania, 
especially those of foreign birth and descent, should object to 
the payment of the most unpopular kind of tax for the sup- 
port of a Government which they disliked, and had no faith 
in. Unable readily to reach a market with their produce, 
they concentrated it into whisky, and upon this, while all 
other agricultural wealth was untouched, the hated tax-gather- 
er was sent to lay his excise. [A horse could pack only four 
bushels of rye, but he could carry the whisky from twenty- 
four bushels, when converted into what was called " high 
wines."*] Nor was it the producer only who complained; the 
consumers also felt aggrieved by the duty laid upon domestic 
spirits, for they were the common drink of the nation ; the star 
of temperance had not then arisen. It was in December, 
179D, that General Hamilton advised the excise on spirits ; 
upon the 3d of the ensuing March, the law was passed ; and 
instantly the spirit of opposition showed itself. At first this 
opposition was confined to efforts to discourage persons from 
holding offices connected with the excise; next associations 
were formed of those who were ready to "forbear" compliance 
with the law ; but as men talked with one another, and the 
excise became more and more identified with the tyranny of 
Federalism, stronger demonstrations were inevitable, and upon 
the 27th of July, 1791, a meeting was called at Brownsville, 
(Redstone,) to consider the growing troubles of the western 
district of Pennsylvania.f This meeting, which was attended 
by infiuential and able men, agreed to a gathering of repre- 
sentatives from the five counties included in the fourth survey 
under the law in question, to be held at Washington, upon the 
23d of August. [These five counties were Washington, Al- 
leghany, Westmoreland, Fayette and Bedford.] The gather- 
ing took place, and we extract from Hamilton's report, of Au- 
gust 1794, the following sentence in relation to it : 

* American Pioneer, ii. 215. 

t American State Papers, vii. 64, 110; also xx. 107,167, Ed. 



1790-96. Inflammatory Resolutions. 469 

This meeting passed some intermediate resolutions, which 
were afterwards printed in the Pittsburgh Gazette, containing a 
strong censure on the law, declaring that any person who had 
accepted or might accept an office under Congress, in order to 
carry it into effect, should be considered as inimical to the 
interests of the country; and recommending to the citizens of 
Washington county to treat every person who had accepted, 
or might thereafter accept, any such office, with contempt, and 
absolutely refuse all kind of communication or intercourse 
with the officers, and to withhold from them all aid, support, 
or comfort. 

Not content with this vindictive proscription of those who 
might esteem it their duty, in the capacity of officers, to aid 
in the execution of the constitutional laws of the land, the 
meeting proceeded to accumulate topics of crimination of 
the Government, though foreign to each other ; authorizing 
by this zeal for censure a suspicion that they were actuated, 
not merely by the dislike of a particular law, but by a dispo- 
sition to render the Government itself unpopular and odious. 

This meeting, in further prosecution of their plan, deputed 
three of their members to meet delegates from the counties of 
Westmoreland, Fayette, and Alleghany, on the first Tuesday 
of September following, for the purpose of expressing the 
sense of the people of those counties in an address to the Legis- 
lature of the United States upon the subject of the excise law 
and other grievances. 

Here, for the first time, the connection of the antagonism to 
the Excise, wath other topics, was brought forward, and a 
political character given to the movement, by a general as- 
sault upon the measures of the Federal Government. This 
assault assumed a yet more distinctive character at a subse- 
quent meeting of delegates held at Pittsburgh, upon the 7th 
of September ; at which the salaries of the Federal officers ; 
the interest paid upon the national debt; the want of distinc- 
tion between the original holders of that debt and those who 
had bought it at a discount; and the creation of a United 
States Bank, were all denounced in common with the tax on 
whisky. [But they refused to give aid. of any kind to the ex- 
cise officers, which practically meant they refused to sustain 
the laws, or protect life and property against illegal force.*] 
At these meetings all was conducted with propriety; and the 
resolutions adopted gave no direct countenance to violence. 
And when did the leaders of a community, its legislators, 
judges and clergy, ever express, in any manner, however 

* American State Papers, ix. 107. 



470 Violence Commenced. 1790-99. 

quiet, their utter disregard of law, without a corresponding 
expression by the masses, if uneducated, in acts of violence? 
It was not strange, therefore, that upon the day previous to 
the meeting last named, the collector for the counties of Alle- 
ghany and Washington was attacked. One report says: 

A party of men, armed and disguised, waylaid him at a 
place on Pigeon creek, in Washington county, seized, tarred 
and feathered him, cut off his hair, and deprived him of his 
horse, obliging him to travel on foot a considerable distance 
in that mortifying and painful situation. 

The case was brought before the district court of Pennsyl- 
vania, out of which processes were issued against John Robert- 
son, John Hamilton, and Thomas McComb, three of the per- 
sons concerned in the outrage. 

The serving of these processes was confided by the then 
marshal, Clement Diddle, to his deputy, Joseph Fox, who, in 
the month of October, went into Alleghany county for the 
purpose of serving them. 

The appearances and circumstances which IMr. Fox observ- 
ed himself in the course of his journey, and learned afterwards 
upon his arrival at Pittsburgh, had the effect of deterring him 
from the service of the processes, and unfortunately led to 
adopt the injudicious and fruitless expedient of sending them 
to the parties by a private messenger, under cover. 

The deputy's report to the marshal states a number of par- 
ticulars, evincing a considerable fermentation in the part of 
the country to which he was sent, and inducing a belief, on 
his part, that he could not with safety have executed the pro- 
cesses. The marshal, transmitting this report to tlie district 
attorney, makes the following observations upon it : "I am 
sorry to add that he (the deputy) found the people, in general, 
in the wester:i part of the State, and particularly beyond the 
Alleghany ^Mountains, in such a ferment on account of the 
act of Congress for laying a duty on distilled spirits, and so 
much opposed to the execution of the said act, and from a 
variety of threats to himself personally, (although he took the 
utmost precaution to conceal his errand,) that he was not 
only convinced of the impossibility of serving the process, but 
that any attempt to elTcct it would have occasioned the most 
violent opposition from the greater part of the inhabitants; and 
ho declares that, if he had attempted it, he believes he should 
not have returned alive. 

1 spared no expense nor pains to have the process of the 
court executed, and have not the least doubt that my deputy 
would have accomplished it, if it could have been done." 

The reality of the danger to the deputy was countenanced 
by the opinion of Gen. Neville, the inspector of the revenue, 
a man who before had given, and since has given, numerous 



1790-95. Farther Outrages. 471 

proofs of a steady and firm temper; and what followed is a 
further confirmation of it. 

The person who had been sent with the processes was 
seized, whipped, tarred, and feathered ; and, after having his 
horse and money taken from him, was blindfolded and tied in 
the woods; in which condition he remained forfiv-e hours. 

These intemperate expressions of their feelings by word and 
deed, startled the government, and puzzled its executive ofii- 
cers: it was determined, however, to await the influence of 
time, thought, information, and leniency, and to attempt, by a 
reconsideration of the law, at the earliest possible moment, 
to do away any real cause of complaint which might exist. 
But popular fury once aroused is not soon allayed ; the worst 
passions of the same people who sent out the murderers of 
the Moravian Indians in 1782, had been excited, and excess 
followed excess.* 

Some time in October, 1791, an unhappy man, by the name 
of Wilson, a stranger in the country, and manifestly dis- 
ordered in his intellects, imagining himself to be a collector 
of the revenue, or invested with some trust in relation to it, 
was so unlucky as to make inquiries concerning distillers who 
had entered their stills, giving out that he was to travel 
through the United States, to ascertain and report to Con- 
gress the number of stills, &c. This man was pursued by a 
party in disguise ; taken out of his bed, carried about five 
miles back, to a smith's shop ; stripped of his clothes, which 
were afterwards burnt; and having been himself inhumanly 
burnt in several places with a heated iron, was tarred and 
feathered, and about day light dismissed, naked, wounded, 
and otherwise in a very suffering condition. These particu- 
lars are communicated in a letter from the inspector of the 
revenue, of the 17th of November, who declares that he had 
then himself seen the unfortunate maniac, the abuse of whom, 
as he expressed it, exceeded description, and was sufficient to 
make human nature shudder. The affair is the more extra- 
ordinary, as persons of weight and consideration in that 
county are understood to have been actors in it, and as the 
symptoms of insanity were, during tlie whole time of inflict- 
ing the punishment, apparent ; the unhappy sufferer displayed 
the heroic fortitude of a man who conceived himself to be a 
martyr to the discharge of some important dniy. 

Not long after, a person by the name of Roseberry uikIct- 
went the humiliating punishment of tarring and feathering* 
with some aggravations, for having in conversation, hazard- 
ed the very natural and just, but unpalatable remark, that 
the inhabitants of that county could not reasonably expect 

* American State Papers, xx. 107, 708. 



4tfi Putshargh Meeting of August 21.?^ 1792. 1790-95. 

protection from a government whose laws they so strenuously 
opposed. 

The audacity of the perpetrators of these excesses was so 
great, that an armed banditti ventured to seize and carry off 
two persons who were witnesses against the rioters in the 
case of Wilson, in order to prevent their giving testimony of 
the riot in a court then sitting, or about to sit. 

Notwithstanding the course of the western people, the Fed- 
eral Government, during the session of 1791 and '92, proceeded 
in the discussion of the obnoxious statute ; and upon the 8th 
of May, 1792, passed an amendatory act, making such changes 
as were calculated to allay the angry feelings that had been 
excited, except so far as they were connected with political 
animosities, and which in most districts produced the intended 
result. [Mr. Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, made a 
report on the objections to the excise law, March 5, 1792.*] 
But in western Pennsylvania, opposition continued una- 
bated, and it was announced that the inspectors who, by the 
new law, were to be appointed for all the counties, should not 
be allowed to open their offices ; nor was this a mere threat; 
no buildings could be obtained for the use of the United 
States ; and when, at length, in Washington, one Captain 
Faulkner dared to agree that a building of his should be occu- 
pied by the inspector, he was waylaid by a mob, a knife 
drawn upon him, and was threatened with scalping, loss of 
property by fire, and other injuries, if he did not revoke his 
agreement; so that upon the 20th of August, under the influ- 
ence of fear, he did actually break his contract, and upon the 
next day advertised what he had done in the Pittsburgh 
paper. f 

On the day of this advertisement, in the same town in 
which it appeared, a meeting was held, headed by members 
of the State Legislature,;}: judges, clergymen, and other lead- 
ing characters. [Of these, the late Albert Gallatin was 
Secretary to the meeting. The Chairman of the Committee 
was Daniel Bradford, who acted as a leader in many of the 
violent proceedings. For his views on the subject, the reader 
.is rderred to a letter from him in the United States Gazette, 

•American State Piipcrs, xx. 108. 
I American State Papers, vii. 150. 
JAuicriciui State Paper?, xx. 108. 



1790-95. Measures adopted by Government. 473 

of September 9tli, 1794; and to Clymer's letter in Gibbs' 
Memoirs, i. 248.] 

This meeting entered into resolutions not less exceptionable 
than those of its predecessors. The preamble suggests that a 
tax on spirituous liquors is unjust in itself and oppressive upon 
the poor ; that internal taxes upon consumption must, in the 
end, destroy the liberties of every country in which they are 
introduced ; that the law in question, from certain local cir- 
cumstances, which are specified, would bring immediate dis- 
tress and ruin upon the western country ; and concludes with 
the sentiment, that they think it their duty to persist in remon- 
strance to Congress, and in every other legal measure that 
may obstruct the operation of the law. 

The resolutions then proceed, first, to appoint a committee 
to prepare and cause to be presented to Congress, an address, 
stating objections to the law, and praying for its repeal; sec- 
ondly, to appoint committees of correspondence for Washing- 
ton, Fayette and Alleghany, charged to correspond together, 
and with such committees as should be appointed for the same 
purpose in the county of Westmoreland, or with any commit- 
tees of a similar nature that might be appointed in other 
parts of the United States ; and, also, if found necessary, to 
call together either general meetings of the people in their 
respective counties, or conferences of the several committees; 
and lastly, to declare that they will in future consider those 
who hold offices for the collection of the duty as unworthy of 
their friendship ; that they will have no intercourse nor deal- 
ings with them, will withdraw from them every assistance, 
withhold all the comforts of life which depend upon those du- 
ties that as men and fellow-citizens we owe to each other, 
and will upon all occasions treat them with contempt ; earn- 
estly recommending it to the people at large to follow the 
same line of conduct towards them. 

When notice of this meeting, and of the means used to in- 
timidate Faulkner, was given to the government, Washing- 
ton issued a proclamation, dated September 15th; the super- 
visor of the district was sent to the seat of trouble to learn 
the true state of facts and to collect evidence ; while the At- 
torney General was instructed to inquire into the legality of 
the proceedings of the Pittsburgh meeting, with v'evv to the 
indictment of the leaders. Mr. Randolph, however, felt so 
much doubt as to the character of the meeting of August 21, 
that no prosecutions on that score were instituted ; and in 
serving process upon two persons said to have been among; 
the assailants of Faulkner, either an error was made, or the 
30 



474 Action of the Democratic Societies. 1790-95. 

accusation proved to be false, which caused that matter also 
to be dropped by the government. [Mr. Finley, in his History 
of the Insurrection, (p. 71,) says the accusation was false, and 
the evidence perjured.*] It was then proposed to attempt a 
gradual suppression of the resistance to the law, by adopting 
these measures : 

1st. The prosecution of all distillers who were not li- 
censed, when it could be done with certainty of success, and 
without exciting violence. 

2d. The seizure of all illegal spirits on their Avay to mar- 
ket, when it could be done without leading to outbreaks. 

3d. By care that only spirits which had paid duty were 
bought for the use of the army. 

The influence of these measures was in part lost in conse- 
quence of the introduction of the whisky that paid no tax 
into the North-western Territory, over M'hich some of the 
laws relative to the matter did not extend ; but still their ef- 
fect was decided : in November, 1792, Wolcott wrote that the 
opposition was confined to a small part of Pennsylvania, and 
would soon cease ;f and through the whole of 1703 — although 
the Collector for Fayette county was obliged by force to give 
up his books and papers, and to promise a resignation; while 
the Inspector of Allegh^jny was burnt in effigy before the 
magistrates, and no notice of the act taken by them ; and al- 
though when warrants were issued for the rioters in the for- 
mer case, the Sheriff of the county refused to execute them, 
yet obedience to the excise became more general, and many 
of the leading distillers, yielding to the suggestions of pecu- 
niary interest, for the first time entered their stills, and aban- 
doned the party of Bradford and his coadjutors. J This 
abandonment, the political antagonists of the law by no 
means relished ; still even they might have been. subdued but 
for the introduction at that very juncture, of Mr. Genet's fa- 
mous system of Democratic Societies, which, like the Jacobin 
clubs of Paris, were to be a power above the government. 
Genet reached the United States, April 8th ; on the I8th of 

* American State Papers, .xx. lOS, 109.— Sparks' Wnshington, x. 201, r.06— 52C to liZZ. 
Gibbs' Memoirs, i. 148. — Marshall's Washington, v. 366. 

tGibbs, i. 83. 

\ American State Papers, kx. 40 



1790-95 Action of the Democratic Societies. 475 

May, he was presented to the President ; and by the 30th of 
that month the Democratic Society of Philadelphia was or- 
ganized.* By means of this, its affiliated bodies, and other 
societies based upon it, or suggested by it, the French minis- 
ter, his friends and imitators, waged their war upon the ad- 
ministration, and gave new energy to every man who, on any 
ground, was dissatisfied with the laws of his country. Among 
those dissatisfied, the enemies of the excise were of course to 
be numbered ; and there can be little or no doubt that to the 
agency of societies formed in the disaffected districts, after 
the plan of those founded by Genet, the renewed and excess- 
ive hostility of the western people to the tax upon spirits is 
to be ascribed.f [It was natural enough in the heat of politi- 
cal excitement, to ascribe the whisky insurrection directly to 
the agency of Genet in these societies, as was done by Wash- 
ington and his friends. But we think the evidence in the case 
disproves all design on the part of the proper Democratic 
Societies, to rebel against the laws, or produce anarchy, or a 
separation of the Union. The strong sympathy with the French 
people for their aid in the revolutionary struggle, and the ar- 
dent love of liberty, were reasons enough to account for the 
organization of these societies.] The proper Democratic Soci- 
eties, when the crisis came, disapproved of the violence com- 
mitted,J and so did Gallatin and many others; but, however 
much they may have disliked an appeal to force, even from 
the outset, their measures, their extravagancies, and political 
fanatacism, were calculated to result in violence and nothing 
else. Through 1793, as we have said, the law seemed gain- 
ing, but with the next January the demon was loosed again. 

William Richmond, who had given information against 
some of the rioters in the affair of Wilson, had his barn burnt, 
with all the grain and hay which it contained ; and the same 
thing happened to Robert Shawhan, a distiller, who had been' 
among the first to comply with the law, and who had always 
spoken favorably of it ; but in neither of these instances, 
(which happened in the county of Alleghany) though the pre- 
sumptions were violent, was any positive proof obtained. 

'Marshall's TVaAington, v. 426, note. 

tSee Sparks' Washington, x. 429, 437, Ac. 

X U. S. Gazette, August 26, September 1, Stptember 6, Ac., 1794.— Boston Independent 
Chronide, August 18, 1794, October 6, 1794. 



476 Further Outrages in 1794. 1790-95. 

The inspector of the revenue, in a letter of the 27th of 
February, writes that he had received information that per- 
sons, living near the dividing line of Alleghany and Washing- 
ton, had thrown out threats of tarring and feathering one 
William Cociiran, a complying distiller, and of burning his dis- 
tillery; and that it had also been given out that in three 
weeks there would not be a house standing in Alleghany 
county of any person who had complied with the laws; in 
consequence of which, he had been induced to pay a visit to 
several leading individuals in that quarter, as well to as- 
certain the truth of the information as to endeavor to avert 
the attempt to execute such threats. 

It appeared afterwards, that, on his return home, he had 
been pursued by a collection of disorderly persons, threaten- 
ing, as they went along, vengeance against him. On their 
way, these men called at the house of James Kiddoe, who 
had recently complied with the laws, broke into his still-house, 
fired several balls under his still, and scattered fire over and 
about the house. 

In May and June new violences were committed. James 
Kiddoe, the person above mentioned, and William Cochran, 
another complying distiller, met with repeated injury to their 
property. Kiddoe had parts of his grist-mill at difierent times 
carried away ; and Cochran sufiered more material injuries. 
His still was destroyed ; his saw-mill was rendered useless, 
by the taking away of the saw; and his grist-mill so injured 
as to require to be repaired, at considerable expense. 

At the last visit, a note in writing was left, requiring him to 
publish what he had suffered, in the Pittsburgh Gazette, on 
pain of another visit, in which he is threatened, in figurative 
but intelligible terms, with the destruction of his property by 
fire. Thus adding to the profiigacy of doing wanton injuries 
to a fellow-citizen the tyranny of compelling him to be the 
publisher of his wrongs. 

June being the month for receiving annual entries of stills, 
endeavors were used to open offices in Westmoreland and 
Washington, where it had been hitherto found impracticable. 
With much pains and difficulty, places were procured for the 
purpose. Tliat in Westmoreland was repeatedl}' attacked in 
the night by armed men, who frequently fired upon it ; but, 
according to a report which has been made to this Depart- 
ment, it was defended with so much courage and persever- 
ance by John Wells, an auxiliary ofiicer, and Philip Kagan, 
the owner of the house, as to have been maintained during 
the remainder of the month. 

That in Washington, after repeated attempts, was sup- 
pressed. The lirst attempt was confined to pulling down the 
sign of the oflice, and threats of future destruction ; the 



1790-95. Offenders to he Tried at Pluladelphia. 477 

second effected the object in the following mode : About 
twelve persons, armed and painted black, in the night of the 
6th [of June, broke into the house of John Lynn, where the 
office was kept, and, after having treacherously seduced him 
to come down stairs, and put himself into their power, by a 
promise of safety, to himself and his house, they seized and tied 
him ; threatened to hang him ; took him to a retired spot in 
a neighboring wood, and there, after cutting off his hair, tar- 
ring and feathering him, swore him never again to allow the 
use of his house for an office, never to disclose their names, 
and never again to have any sort of agency in aid of the 
excise : having done which, they bound him naked to a tree, 
and left him in that situation till morning, when he succeeded 
in extricating himself Not content with this, the malcon- 
tents, some days after, made him another visit, pulled down 
part of his house, and put him in a situation to be obliged to 
become an exile from his own home, and to find an asylum 
elsewhere.* 

Even these acts, however, were followed by nothing on the 
part of the government more stringent than the institution, 
in the June following, of several suits against the rioters, and 
also against the non-complying distillers; to serve process in 
which the Marshal of the United States himself visited the 
West. This led to the catastrophe. These suits were in the 
United States Court, which sat east of the mountains, where 
the accused must of course be tried. But the seizure of of- 
fenders to be tried out of their own neighborhood, was op- 
posed to the feelings of the Americans, and to the principles 
of that English law upon which they had relied through the 
discussions which preceded the Revolution. The federal 
government, it was said, in taking men to Philadelphia,! to 
be tried for alleged misdemeanors, was doing what the Brit- 
ish did in carrying Americans beyond the sea. Then was 
shown, as we conceive, the power of those societies to which 
we have referred. In February, 1794, a society had been 
formed at Mingo creek, consisting of the militia of that neigh- 
borhood, the same persons who led in all future excesses.J In 
April a second association of the same character, and a regu- 

* American State Papers, xi. 110. 

•j- The writs were there returnable, in the District Court of the United States. (Findley 
74.) There was needless excitement caused by this, as the United States Courts had been» 
authorized to sit near the troubled district, and the State Courts to try revenue cases 
(Findley, 73.) 

% Brackenridge's Incidents, pp. 25, 148. 



478 Mob gather at Neville's House. 1790-95. 

lar Democratic Club, were formed in the troublesome district. 
In the latter, nothing was done in relation to the excise, so 
far as is known, but in the two first named bodies, there is rea- 
son to believe that the worst spirit of the French clubs was 
naturalized ; the excise and the government thoroughly can- 
vassed ; and rebellion, disunion and bloodshed, sooner or 
later, made familiar to the minds of all. [A murderous spirit 
filled and excited the ignorant people in the country.*] 

It may be readily understood that under such circumstan- 
ces, great excitement was likely to prevail upon slight provo- 
cation. Notwithstanding, the Marshal was suffered to serve 
his writs unresisted, until, when he went with the last process 
in his hands, he unwisely took with him the Inspector of the 
county, General John Neville, a man once very popular, but 
who had been, as men considered, bought up by the Govern- 
ment, and had hence become exceedingly hateful to the popu- 
lace. After serving this process, the Marshal and Inspector 
were followed by a crowd, and a gun was fired, though with- 
out doing any injury. The Marshal returned to Pittsburgh 
and the Inspector to his own house, but it being noised abroad 
that both were at General Neville's, a number of militia-men 
who were gathered under the United States law, agreed the 
next morning to pay the Inspector a visit. For some time, 
Neville had been looking for an attack, knowing his unpopu- 
larity, and had armed his negroes and barricaded his windows. 
An attack upon his house, with a view to a destruction of his 
papers, had probably been in contemplation, and those who 
gathered on the morning of the 16th of July, were determined, 
we presume, to carry the proposed destruction into effect. 
When General Neville discovered the party on that morning 
around his door, he asked their business, and upon receiving 
evasive replies, proceeded at once to treat them as enemies; 
shut his door again, and opened a fire, by which six of his 
supposed assailants were wounded, one of them mortally. 
This, of course, added greatly to the anger and excitement 
previously existing; news of the bloodshed were diff^used 
through the Mingo creek neighborhood, and before nightfall, 
steps were taken to avenge the sufferers. [General Neville 
had been an opposer of a State excise, which had previously 

• Findlcy, 166. — Brackenridge, iii. 25. 



1790-95. Neville's House Destroyed. 479 

existed ; he had taken the place of an Inspector, and made 
the statement that he did not consider what the people 
thought — he would have an independent salary of six hun- 
dred — he was understood to mean pounds, when he only meant 
dollars.*] What followed, we will give in the words of Gen- 
eral Hamilton, adding afterwards some particulars gathered 
from Findley and Brackenridge. 

Apprehending that the business would not terminate here, 
he [Neville] made application by letter to the judges, generals 
of militia, and sheriff of the county, for protection. A reply 
to his application, from John Wilkins, jun., and John Gibson, 
magistrates and militia officers, informed him that the laws 
could not be executed, so as to afford him the protection to 
which he was entitled, owing to the too general combination 
of the people in that part of Pennsylvania to oppose the reve- 
nue law; adding, that they would take every step in their 
power to bring the rioters to justice, and would be glad to re- 
ceive information of the individuals concerned in the attack 
upon his house, that prosecutions might be commenced against 
them ; and expressing their sorrow that should the posse comi- 
iatus of the county be ordered out in support of the civil au- 
thority, very few could be gotten that were not of the party 
of the rioters. 

The day following the insurgents re-assembled with a con- 
siderable augmentation of numbers, amounting, as has been 
computed, to at least five hundred: and on the 17th of July, 
renewed their attack upon the house of the inspector, who, in 
the interval, had taken the precaution of calling to his aid a 
small detachment from the garrison of Fort Pitt, which, at 
the time of the attack, consisted of eleven men, who had been 
joined by Major Abraham Kirkpatrick, a friend and connex- 
ion of the inspector. 

There being scarcely a prospect of effectual defence against 
so large a body as then appeared, and as the inspector had 
erery thing to apprehend for his person, if taken, it was 
judged advisable that he should withdraw from the house to 
a place of concealment ; Major Kirkpatrick generously agree- 
ing to remain with the eleven men, in the intention, if prac- 
ticable, to make a capitulation in favor of the property ; if 
not, to defend it as long as possible. 

A parley took place under cover of a flag, which was sent 
by the insurgents to the house to demand that the inspector 
should come forth, renounce his office, and stipulate never 
again to accept an office under the same laws. To this it 
was replied, that the inspector had left the house upon their 

* Brackenridge, i. 6; iii. 1. Findleyi p. 79, Si. American State Papers, xx. 110, 111. 



480 McFarlanc Killed. 1790-95. 

first approach, and that the place to which he had retired was 
unknown. They then declared that they must have whatever 
related to his office. They were answered that they might 
send persons, not exceeding six, to search the house, and take 
away whatever papers they could find appertaining to the 
office. But not satisfied with this, they insisted, uncondition- 
ally, that the armed men who were in the house for its de- 
fence, should march out and ground their arms, which Major 
Kirkpatrick peremptorily refused ; considering it and repre- 
senting it to them as a proof of a design to destroy the property. 
This refu-^al put an end to the parley. 

A brisk firing then ensued between the insurgents and those 
in the house, which, it is said, lasted for near an hour, till the 
assailants, having set fire to the neighboring and adjacent 
buildings, eight in number, the intenseness of the heat, and 
the danger of an immediate communication of the fire to the 
house, obliged Major Kirkpatrick and his small party to come 
out and surrender themselves. In the course of the firing one 
of the insurgents was killed and several wounded, and three 
of the persons in the house were also wounded. The person 
killed, is understood to have been the leader of the party, of 
the name of James McFarlane, then a major in the militia, 
formerly a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania line. The dwell- 
ing-house, after the surrender, shared the fate of the other 
buildings, the whole of which were consumed to the ground. 
The loss of property to the inspector, upon this occasion, is esti- 
mated, and, as it is believed with great moderation, at not less 
than three thousand pounds, or ten thousand dollars. 

The marshal, Col. Presly Neville, and several others, were 
taken by the insurgents going to the inspector's house. All, ex- 
cept the marshal and Col. Neville, soon made their escape ; 
but these were carried ofi' some distance from the place where 
the affray had happened, and detained till one or two o'clock 
the next morning. In the course of their detention, the mar- 
shal in particular, suffered very severe and humiliating treat- 
ment, and was frequently in imminent danger of his life. 
Several of the party frequently presented their pieces at him 
with every appearance of a design to assassinate, from which 
they were with diificulty restrained by the efforts of a few 
more humane and more prudent. 

Nor could he obtain safety nor liberty, but upon the condi- 
tion of a promise, guaranteed by Col. Neville, that he would 
serve no other process on the west side of the Allegheny 
Mountain. The alternative being immediate death, extorted 
from the marshal a compliance with this condition, notwith- 
standing the just sense of official dignity, and the firmness 
of character which were witnessed by his conduct throughout 
the trying scenes he had experienced. 



1790-95. Attack on Neville. 481 

The insurgents, on the 18th, sent a deputation of two of 
their number (one a justice of the peace) to Pittsburgh, to re- 
quire of the marshal, a surrender of the process in his posses- 
sion, intimating that his compUance would satisfy the people, 
and add to his safety ; and also to demand of Gen. Neville, in 
peremptory terms the resignation of his office ; threatening, in 
case of refusal, to attack the place and take him by force ; de- 
mands which both these officers did not hesitate to reject, as 
alike incompatible with their honor and their duty. 

As it was well ascertained that no protection was to be ex- 
pected from the magistrates or inhabitants of Pittsburgh, it 
became necessary to the safety, both of the inspector and the 
marshal, to quit that place; and, as it was known that all the 
usual routes to Philadelphia were beset by the insurgents, 
they concluded to descend the Ohio, and proceed, by a circuit- 
ous route, to the seat of Government ; which they began to 
put in execution on the night of the 19th of July. 

The following points, which are of great importance, do 
not appear in the above narrative. First, it seems the attack 
was so deliberate that a committee of three was chosen to 
superintend it, who sat upon an elevation, and directed the 
various movements. Second, it seems that the object aimed 
at was the destruction of official papers, and not property or 
life. Third, McFarlane, the commander of the rebels, was shot 
dead, when he exposed himself in consequence of a call from 
the house to cease firing ; this was regarded as intentional mur- 
der on the part of the defenders. Fourth, there is no doubt as 
to the burning having been authorized by the committee of 
attack.* 

The attack upon Neville's house was an outrage of so vio- 
lent a character, and the feeling that caused it was of so 
mixed a nature, that further movements were of necessity, to 
be expected. Those who thought themselves justified, as the 
early actors in the Revolution had been, would of course go 
forward ; those who anticipated the vengeance of the laws, 
thought it safer to press on and make the rebellion formidable, 
'than to stop and so be unable to hope for terms from the gov- 
ernment : [which, as Brackenridge states, was the case with 
Bradford,] the depraved looked for plunder, the depressed for 
a chance to rise, the ambitious had the great men of France 
in view before them, and the cowardly followed what they 
dared not try to withstand. 

* American State Papers, xx. 112. — Findley, 86, 87. — Breckenridge, i. 18, 19. — Ameri- 
can Pioneer, ii. 207. 



482 United States Mail Robbed by Bradford. 1790-95. 

These various feelings showed themselves at a meeting held 
July 23d, at Mingo creek, the particulars of which are given 
by Brackenridge, who attended, in a vivid and clear narrative. 
The masses were half-mad, filled with true Parisian fary, and 
drove their apparent leaders powerless before them. At this 
gathering, a general convention to meet on the 1 4th of Au- 
gust, at Parkinson's Ferry, now Williamsport, upon the 
Monogahela, was agreed on ; but the more violent meanwhile 
determined upon steps that would entirely close the way to 
reconciliation with the Government : these were, first, the rob- 
bery of the mail, by which they expected to learn who were 
their chief opponents ; next, the expulsion from the country 
of the persons thus made known ; and, lastly, the seizure of 
the United States arms and ammunition at Pittsburgh. The 
leading man in these desperate acts was David Bradford, arj 
attorney and politician of some eminence. The first step was 
successfully taken on the 26th of July, and General John Gib- 
son, Colonel Presly Neville, son of General John Neville, and 
three others, were found to have written letters in relation to 
the late proceedings. This being known, the people of Pitts- 
burgh were requested by the Jacobins of the country to expel 
these persons forthwith, and such was the fear of the citizens 
that the order was obeyed, though unwillingly.* But the third 
project succeeded less perfectly. In order to effect it, a meet- 
ing of the masses had been called for August 1st, at Brad- 
dock's field ; this call was made in the form usual for militia 
musters, and all were notified to come armed and equipped. 
Brackenridge was again present, though in fear and trembling. 
Terror, indeed, appears to have ruled as perfectly as beyond 
the Atlantic. The Pittsburgh representatives had gone to 
the conference from fear of being thought lukewarm in the 
rebel cause, and finding themselves suspected, passed the day 
in fear. The object of the gathering, an attack upon the 
United States arsenal, had been divulged to few, and upon 
further consultation was abandoned. But it was determined 
to march to Pittsburgh at any rate, for the purpose of intimi- 
dating the disaffected, robbing a few houses, and burning a 
few stores. The women of the country had gathered to see 

» See Brackenridge '3 Incidenta of the Insurrection of 1794, i. 30, 39, 45, 52, 66. vol iii, 
143. Findley's Hi'tory of the Whisky Insurrection, pp. 91, 93, 95, 103. American Pio- 
neer, i. 65. 



1790-55. Pla7i to Attack the U. S. Arsenal. 483 

the sack of the city at the Fork — and it was with difficulty 
that the conflagration and robbery were prevented ; the lead- 
ers in general opposed the excesses of their followers ; the 
brother of the murdered McFarlane protected the property of 
Major Kirkpatrick, and as others who were most interested in 
the insurrection, showed equal vigor in the prevention of vio- 
lence, the march to Pittsburgh resulted in nothing worse than 
the burning of a few barns and sheds.* 

When a knowledge of the attack on Neville's house and 
the subsequent proceedings reached the Federal Government, 
it was thought to be time to take decided steps. On the 5th 
of August, Hamilton laid the whole matter before the Presi- 
dent ; Judge Wilson of the Supreme Court, having on the 4th 
certified the western counties to be in a state of insurrection ; 
and upon the 7th, Washington issued his Proclamation giving 
notice that every means in his power would be used to put 
down the rebelion. As it was his wish, however, and also 
that of Governor Mifflin of Pennsylvania, that no pains 
should be spared to prevent a recourse to arms. Commission- 
ers were appointed, three by the United States and two by the 
State, to visit the West, and try to procure an abandonment 
of the insurrection without bloodshed. [The Commissioners 
on the part of the United States, were James Ross, a Senator 
in Congress, and a gentleman very popular with the people 
in western Pennsylvania, Jasper Yeates, an Associate Judge 
of the Supreme Court of that State ; and William Bradford, 
the Attorney General of the United States. Those on the 
part of Pennsylvania were Thomas McKean, Chief Justice of 
the State ; and William Irvine, a Representative in Congress. 
Their instructions are in the x'Vmerican State Papers, vol. xx. 
p. 86.] 

When these messengers reached the neighborhood of Pitts- 
burgh, the meeting at Parkinson's ferry was in session, and 
Gallatin and others were trying to prevent matters from be- 
coming worse than they already were. This meeting, upon 
receiving notice of the approach of the Commissioners, agreed 
to send a committee of conference, to treat with them ; and 
at the same time, named a standing committee, one from each 

> 

t See correspondence of GoTernor Mifflin and Mr. Bandolph in American State Papers 
XX. 97 to 106. 



484 Meeting of the Committee of Conference. 1790-95. 

township, making sixty in number, to whom the former were 
to report, and who were authorized to call a new meeting of 
deputies or recall the old ones, in order to accept or reject the 
terms offered on the part of Government. [The conferees 
were from the counties of Westmoreland, Alleghany, Fayette 
and Washington in Pennsylvania, and Ohio county in Vir- 
ginia.*] 

On the 21st of August the Commissioners and Committee 
of conference met, and after some discussion agreed upon 
terms, which the representatives of the insurgents thought 
their constituents would do well to accept. They were then 
submitted to the standing committee, but in that body so much 
iear and mutual distrust prevailed, as to lead to a mere recom- 
mendation to the people to accept the terms offered, by a vote 
of thirty-four to twenty-three, while the committee themselves 
failed to give the pledges which had been required of them. 
This state of things and the knowledge of the fact that even 
the recommendation was obtained only by shielding the voters 
through a vote by ballot, proved to the agents for Govern- 
ment that little was yet done towards tranquilizing the coun- 
try. All the committee-men and leaders were in dread of 
popular violence, and after various letters had passed, and a 
second committee of conference had agreed that it would be 
wise to adopt the terms offered by the Government,! the ques- 
tion was referred to the people themselves, who were to sign 
their names to pledges prepared for the purpose ; by which 
pledges they bound themselves to obey the law and help its 
operation, or unwilling to do this they were to refuse distinctly 
to sign any such promise. This trial of popular sentiment 
was to take place on the 11th of September, in the presence 
of persons who had been at Parkinson ferry meeting, or of 
magistrates ; and the result of the vote was to be by them 
certified to the Commissioners. It would have been well to 
have given a longer time that the good disposition of the 
leaders might have had an opportunity of spreading among 
the people, but as the President in his proclamation had re- 

* See Bostx)n Independent Chronicle, Sept. let, 1794 — United States Gazotl«, Sept 9 — 
American State Papers, vol. ix. 93— Brackenridgc, i. 77, nolo— U. S. Gazette, August 22d, 
1794. 

t American State Tapers, xx. 87 to 97; U. S. Gazette, September 6; Brackenridge, i. 
117 ; BoBton Independent Chronicle, for September 22d, 1794. 



1790-95. Ending of the Whisky Riots. 485 

quired a dispersion by the 1st of September, it was thought 
impossible to wait. On the 11th a vote was taken, but very 
imperfect and unsatisfactory. In some portions of the coun- 
try, men openly refused obedience to the law; in some, they 
were silent ; in some they merely voted by ballot for and 
against submission ; and upon the whole gave so little proof 
of a disposition to support the legal officers that the judges of 
the vote did not feel willing to give certificates that offices of 
inspection could be safely established in the several counties, 
and the Commissioners were forced to return to Philadelphia 
without having accomplished their objects. On the 24th of 
September they reported their proceedings and failure to the 
President ; who, upon the 25th, called the militia of Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia, into the field under 
the command of Henry Lee, Governor of the State last named. 
Washington himself visited the troops and met some depu- 
tations from the western counties, but was unable to accom- 
pany the army to Pittsburgh, whither, however. General 
Hamilton went to represent the Executive. No resistance 
was offered to the army, although the soldiers in many cases 
showed a spirit as bad as that of the rebels, and most needless 
cruelty was in some cases practiced. Bradford, and a few of 
the most prominent friends of violence, fled to the Spanish 
provinces of the south-west. To prevent a renewal of the 
insurrection, and secure obedience to the law, an armed force 
under General Morgan remained through the winter west of 
the mountains. Thus, at a cost of $669,992 34, the whisky 
riots were ended.* 

But there is reason to think that the money was well spent; 
and that the insurrection was a wholesome eruption. It serv- 
ed several good purposes; it alarmed the wiser portion of the 
Democratic party, who saw how much of Jacobin fury lay hid- 
den in the American people; it proved to the wiser part of the 
friends of the administration, that the societies they so much 
hated, even if they originated the evil feelings prevalent in 
the West, would not countenance the riotous acts that follow- 

* American State Papers, xx. 89, 90, 76, 97, 112; also vol. rii. 6G1. United States Ga- 
zette, (1794,) September 5tli. 6th, 12th, 22d and 26th- Boston Independent Chronicle 
October 2d. Sparks' "Washington, x. 439, 441, 450. Findley's History of the Insurrection. 
Brackenridge, ii. 79, and many other pages. American Pioneer, i. 213. Marshall's Wash- 
ington, V. 589. 

For Washington's epeech of November 19, 1794, see Sparks' Washington, xii. 44 to 52. 



486 Ending of the Whisky Riots. 1790-95 

ed. The unruly portion of the western people was awed by the 
enerj^y of the Executive, and to those who loved order, the 
readiness of the militia to march to the support of Govern- 
ment was evidence of a much better disposition than most had 
hoped to find. In addition to these advantages, we may name 
the activity of business, caused by the expenditure of so large 
a sum in the west, and the increase of frontier population 
from the ranks of the army. [And the Editor thinks the Gov- 
ernment learned a very important lesson, that mere law, 
backed by force, cannot regulate the affairs of the nation ; 
that the imposition of taxes by excise, or in any other form, 
cannot be carried out by mere authority; and that, while our 
government is one of law, it is also one of enlightened public 
opinion. 

A few additional facts, selected from Day's Historical Col- 
lections of Pennsylvania, p. 670, will close this sketch. 

The province of Pennsylvania, as early as 1756, had looked 
to the excise on ardent spirits for the means of sustaining its 
bills of credit. The original law, passed to continue only ten 
years, was from time to time continued, as necessities pressed 
upon the treasury. During the revolution, the law was gene- 
rally evaded in the west, by considering all spirits as for do- 
mestic use, such being excepted from excise; but when the debts 
of the revolution began to press upon the states, they became 
more vigilant in the enforcement of the law. Opposition 
arose at once in the western counties. Liberty-poles were 
erected, and the people assembled in arms, chased off the offi- 
cers appointed to enforce the law. The object of the people 
was to compel a repeal of the law, but they had not the least 
idea of sul)verting the government. 

The pioneers of this region, descended as they were from 
North Britain and Ireland, had come very honestly by their 
love of whiskey ; and many of them had brought their hatred 
of an exciseman from the old country. The western insur- 
gents followed, as they supposed, the recent example of the 
American revolution. The first attempt of the British parlia- 
ment — the very cause of the revolution, had been an excise 
law. There was nothing in that day disreputable in either 
making or drinking whisky. 

No temperance societies then existed ; to drink whisky 
was as common and honorable as to eat bread; the fame of 
" old Monongahela" was proverbial, both at the east and the 
west. Distilling was then esteemed as moral and respectable 
as any other business. It was early commenced, and exten- 
sively carried on in western Pennsylvania. There was neither 
home nor foreign market for rye, their principal crop ; the 



1790-95 Remote Causes of the Insurrection. 487 

grain would not bear packing across the mountains. Whisky, 
therefore, was the most important item of remittance to pay 
for their salt, sugar and iron. The people had cultivated their 
land for years at the peril of their lives, with little or no pro- 
tection from the Federal Government ; and when, by extraor- 
dinary efforts, the}'^ were enabled to raise a little more grain 
than their immediate wants required, they were met with a 
law restraining them in the liberty of doing what they pleas- 
ed with the surplus. The people of western Pennsylvania 
regarded a tax on whisky in the same light as the citizens of 
Ohio would now regard a United States tax on lard, pork, or 
flour. 

It is but justice to General John Neville and his descendants, 
that we should give the following extract from the pen of the 
late Judge Wilkeson, to be recorded. It is to be found, with 
much other valuable matter, in his " Early Recollections of 
the West."* 

In order to allay opposition, (to the excise law,) as far as 
possible, General John Neville, a man of the most deserved 
popularity, was appointed collector for western Pennsylvania. 
He accepted the appointment from a sense of duty to his coun- 
try. He was one of the few men of wealth, who had put his 
all at hazard for independence. At his own expense, he rais- 
ed and equipped a company of soldiers, marched them to Bos- 
ton, and placed them, with his son, under the command of 
General Washington. He was the brother-in-law to the dis- 
tinguished General Morgan, and father-in-law to Majors Craig 
and Kirkpatrick, officers highly respected in the western coun- 
try. Besides General Neville's claims as a soldier and patriot, 
he had contributed greatly to relieve the sufferings of the set- 
tlers in his vicinity. He divided his last loaf with the needy; 
and in a season of more than ordinary scarcit}', he opened his 
fields to those who were suffering with hunger. If any man 
could have executed this odious law. General Neville was that 
man.] 

[During the period in which we have traced the "Annals of 
the West" in this chapter, we must not omit the notice of set- 
tlements formed in that part of the North Western Territory, 
now included within the State of Ohio. And the first is the 
settlement of Galliopolis, commonly called GallipoUs.j 

In May or June, 1 788, Joel Barlow left this country for Eu- 
rope, "authorized to dispose of a very large body of land" in 
the west. In 1790, this gentleman distributed proposals in 
Paris, for the sale of lands, at five shillings per acre, which 

*American Pioneer, ii. 207. — Day's Pennsylvania, 671. note. 



488 Settlements formed in Ohio. 1790-95 

promised, says Volney, " a climate healthy and delightful ; 
scarcely such a thing as frost in winter; a river, called by way 
of eminence, ' The Beautiful,' abounding in fish of an enor- 
mous size ; magnificent forests of a tree from which sugar 
flows, and a shrub which yields candles : venison in abun- 
dance, without foxes, w^olvcs, lions or tigers; no taxes to pay; 
no military enrolments; no quarters to find for soldiers. Pur- 
chasers became numerous, individuals and W'hole families dis- 
posed of their property; and, in the course of 1791, some em- 
barked at Havre, others at Bordeaux, Nantes, or Rochelle," 
each with his title deed in his pocket. Five hundred settlers, 
among whom were not a few carvers and gilders to his ma- 
jesty, coachmakers, friseurs, and peruke makers, and other ar- 
tizans and artistes, equally well fitted for a backwoods life, 
arrived in the United States in 1791-92 ; and, acting without 
concert, traveling without knowledge of the language, cus- 
toms or roads, they at last managed to reach the spot designat- 
ed for their residence, after expending nearly or quite, the 
whole proceeds of their sales in France.* 

They reached the spot designated, but it was only to learn, 
that the persons whose title deeds they held, did not OAvn one 
foot of land, and that they had parted with all their worldly 
goods merely to reach a w'ilderness, which they knew not how 
to cultivate, in the midst of a people, of whose speech and 
ways they knew nothing, and at the very moment when the 
Indians were carrying destruction to every white man's hearth. 
Without food, without land, with little money, no experience, 
and with want and danger closing rround them, they were in 
a position that none but Frenchmen could be in without de- 
spair. 

Who brought them to this pass ? Volney says, the Scioto 
Company, which had bought of the Ohio Company; Mr. Hall 
says in his Letters from the West, (p. 137,) a company who 
had obtained a grant from the United States; and, in his Sta- 
tistics of the West, (p. 164,) the Scioto Company, which was 
formed from or by the Ohio Company, as a subordinate. Bar- 
low, he says, was sent to Europe by the Ohio Company; and 
by them the lands in question were conveyed to the Scioto 

* Volney's view of the climate and soil of the United States, ic. The sugar-tree was 
the maple, and the wax-bearing myrtle, the shrub that yielded candloa. 

Brackenridgc's IlecoUcction?, \t. 42. 



1790-95 Sufferings of Galliopolis Settlers. 489 

Company. Kilbourn says, "the Scioto Land Company, which 
intended to buy of Congress all the tract between the western 
boundary of the Ohio Company's purchase and the Scioto, di- 
rected the French settlers to Galliopolis, supposing it to be 
west of the Ohio Company's purchase, though it proved not 
to be." The Company, he tells us, failed to make their pay- 
ments, and the whole proposed purchase remained with gov- 
ernment.* 

The truth undoubtedly is, that those for whom Barlow act- 
ed, were the persons referred to by Doctor Cutler, who joined 
with the Ohio Company in their purchase to the extent of three 
and one-half millions of acres; among whom, he says, were 
many of the principal characters of America. [This is demon- 
strated by the fact, that Col. Duer, who applied to Dr. Cutler 
"to take in another company," as the agent of the Scioto com- 
pany, did receive the French Immigrants and send them to 
Galliopolis. t] These persons, however, never paid for their 
lands, and could give no title to the emigrants they had allur- 
ed across the ocean. Their excuse M-as, that their agents had 
deceived them, but it was a plea good neither in morals or law. 
Who those agents were, and how far they were guilty, and 
how far the company was so, are points which seem to be still 
involved in doubt.J 

But, whatever doubt there* may be as to the causes of the 
suffering, there can be none as to the sufferers. The poors 
gilders, and carvers, and peruke-makers, who had followed a s; 
jack-a-lantern into the " howling wilderness,'' found that their 
lives depended upon their labor. They must clear the ground, 
build their houses, and till their fields. Now the spot upon 
which they had been located by the Scioto Company was cov- 
ered in part with those immense sycamore trees, which are so 
frequent along the rivers of the west, andto remove which is no 
small undertaking even for the American woodman . The coach- 
makers were wholly at a loss; but at last, hoping to conquer 
by a coup-de-main, they tied ropes to the branches, and while 
one dozen pulled at them with might and main, another dozen 
went at the trunk with axes, hatchets, and every variety of 
edged tool, and by dint of perseverance and cheerfulness, at 

* KilbourE's Gazetteer, 1831. 

I American State Papers, xvi. 30. 

X M. Meulette, one of the settlers, in American Pioneer, ii. 185. 

31 



490 Settlements in Virginia Reserve. 1790-95. 

length overcome the monster, though not without some hair- 
breadth escapes ; for when a mighty tree, that had been 
hacked on all sides, fell, it required a Frenchman's heels to 
avoid the sweep of the wide-spread branches. But when 
they had felled the last vegetable, they were little better off 
than before ; for they could not move or burn it. At last a 
good idea came to their aid ; and while some chopped off the 
limbs, others dug, by the side of the trunk, a great grave, into 
which, with many a heave, they rolled their fallen enemy. 

Their houses they did not build in the usual straggling 
American style, but made two rows or blocks of log-cabins, 
each cabin being about sixteen feet square ; while at one end 
was a larger room, which was used as a council-chamber and 
ball-room. 

In the way of cultivation they did little. The land was 
not theirs, and they had no motive to improve it; and, more- 
over, their coming was in the midst of the Indian war. Here 
and there a little vegetable garden was formed : but their 
main supply of food they were forced to buy from boats on the 
river, by which means their remaining funds were sadly bro- 
ken in upon. Five of their number were taken prisoners by 
the Indians; food became scarce ; in the fall, a marsh behind 
the town sent up miasm that produced fevers; then winter 
came, and, despite Mr. Barlow's promise, brought frost in 
plenty ; and, by and by, they heard from beyond seas of the 
carnage that was desolating the fire-sides they had left. 
Never were men in a more mournful situation ; but still, 
twice in the week, the whole colony came together, and to 
the sound of the violin danced off hunger and care. The 
savage scout that had been lurking all day in the thicket, lis- 
tened to the strange music, and hastening to his fellows, told 
them, that the whites would be upon them, for he had seen 
them at their war-dance; and the careful Connecticut man, 
as he guided his broadhorn in the shadow of the Virginia 
shore, wondered what mischief " the red varmint" were at 
next; or, if he knew the sound of the fiddle, shook his head, 
as he thought of the whisky that must have been used to 
produce all that merriment. 

But French vivacity, though it could Avork wonders, could 
not pay for land. Some of the Galliopolis settlers went to 
Detroit, others to Kaskaskia ; a few bought their lands of the 



1790-95. Contract of Nathaniel Massie and others. 491 

Ohio Company, who treated them with great liberality ; and 
in 1795, Congress, being informed of the circumstances, 
granted to the sufferers twenty-four thousand acres of land 
opposite Little Sandy River, to which, in 1798, twelve hun- 
dred acres more were added ; which tract has since been 
known as French Grant. 

The influence of this settlement upon the State was unim- 
portant; but it forms a curious little episode in Ohio history, 
and affords a strange example of national character.* 

During this period, however, other settlements had been 
taking place in Ohio, which in their influence upon the desti- 
nies of the State were deeply felt ; we mean that of the Vir- 
ginia Reserve, between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, 
that of the Connecticut Reserve, and that of Dayton. 

In 1787, the reserved lands of the Old Dominion, north of 
the Ohio, were examined, and in August of that year entries 
were commenced. Against the validity of these entries, Con- 
gress, in 1788, entered their protest. This protest, which was 
practically a prohibition of settlement, was withdrawn in 1790. 
As soon as this was done, it became an object to have surveys 
made in the reserved region, but as this was an undertaking 
of great danger, in consequence of the Indian wars, high 
prices in land or money had to be paid to the surveyors. The 
person who took the lead in this gainful but unsafe enterprise 
was Nathaniel Massie, then twenty-seven years old. He had 
been for six years or more in the west, and had prepared him- 
self in Colonel Anderson's office for the details of his busi- 
ness. Thus prepared, in December, 1790, he entered into the 
following contract with certain persons therein named :f 

Articles of agreement between Nathaniel Massie, of one 
part, and the several persons that have hereunto subscribed, of 
the other part, witnesseth, that the subscribers hereof doth 
oblige themselves to settle in the town laid off, on the north- 
west side of the Ohio, opposite to the lower part of the Two 
Islands; and make said town, or the neighborhood, on the 
north-west side of the Ohio, their permanent seat of resi- 
dence for two years from the date hereof; no subscriber shall 

* See the communication of Mr. Mculette referred to above. We have something from 
oral communications. Also American Pioneer, i. 94, 95. American State Papers, xvi. 29. 

fMcDonald's Sketches, 26. American Pioneer, i. 72, 438. Old Journalg, iv. 836. 
Passed July 17th. From one-fourth to one-half of the lands surveyed, ten pounds, Vir- 
ginia currency, per thousand acres, beside chain-men's expenses. [McDonald, 2^.'] 



492 Connecticut sells her Reserve. 1790-95. 

absent himself more than two months at a time, and during 
such absence furnish a strong, able-bodied man sufficient to 
bear arms at least equal to himself; no subscriber shall absent 
himself the time above mentioned in case of actual danger, 
nor shall such absence be but once a year; no subscriber 
shall absent himself in case of actual danger, or if absent 
shall return immediately. Each of the subscribers doth oblige 
themselves to comply with the rules and regulations that 
shall be agreed on by a majority thereof for the support of 
the settlement. 

In consideration whereof, Nathaniel Massie doth bind and 
oblige himself, his heirs, &c., to make over and convey to such 
of the subscribers that comply with the above mentioned con- 
ditions, at the expiration of two years, a good and sufficient 
title unto one in-lot in said town, containing live poles in 
front and eleven back, one out-lot of four acres convenient to 
said town, in the bottom, which the said Massie is to put 
them in immediate possession of, also one hundred acres of 
land, which the said Massie has shown to a part of the sub- 
scribers; the conveyance to be made to each of the subscribers, 
their heirs or assigns. 

In witness whereof, each of the parties have hereunto set 
their hands and seals, this 1st day of December, 1790. 

The town thus laid off was situated some twelve miles 
above Maysville, and was called Manchester ; it is still known 
to the voyager on the Ohio. From this point Massie and his 
companions made surveying expeditions through the perilous 
years from 1791 to 1796, but though often distressed and in 
danger, they were never wearied nor afraid ; and at length, 
with Wayne's treaty all danger of importance was at an 
end.* 

Connecticut, as w^e have stated, had, in 17S6 resigned her 
claims to western lands, with the exception of a reserved 
tract extending one hundred and twenty miles beyond Penn- 
sylvania. Of this tract, so far as the Indian title was extin- 
guished, a survey was ordered in October, 1786, and an office 
opened for its disposal : part was sold, and in 1792, half a 
million of acres w^ere given to those citizens of Connecticut, 
who had lost property by the acts of the British troops, during 
the Revolutionary War, at New London, New Haven and 
elsewhere ; these lands are known as the "Firelands" and the 
"Sufferers' lands," and lie in the western part of the Reserve. f 

♦McDonald's Sketch of General MassU. 
t American State Papers, t. 690. 



1790-92 ScUlcments on the Miami. 493 

In May, 1795, the Legislature of Connecticut authorized a 
committee to take steps for the disposal of the remainder of 
their western domain; this committee made advertisement 
accordingly, and before autumn had disposed of it to fifty-six 
persons, forming the Connecticut Land Company, for one mil- 
lion two hundred thousand dollars, and upon the 5th or 9th of 
September, quit claimed to the purchasers the whole title of 
the State, territorial and juridical.* These purchasers, on the 
same day, conveyed the three millions of acres transferred to 
them by the State, to John Morgan, John Caldwell, and Jona- 
than Brace, in trust; and upon the quit-claim deeds of those 
trustees, the titles to all real estate in the Western' Reserve, 
of necessity, rest. Surveys were commenced in 1796, and by 
the close of 1797, all the lands east of the Cu5'ahoga were di- 
vided into townships five miles square. The agent of the 
Connecticut Land Company was General Moses Cleveland, 
and in honor of him the leading city of the Reserve, in 1796, 
received its name. That township and five others were re- 
tained for private sale, and the remainder were disposed of 
by a lottery, the first drawing in which took place in February, 
1798.t 

Wayne's treaty also led at once to the foundation of Day- 
ton, and the peopling of that fertile region. The original 
proposition by Symmes had been for the purchase of two 
millions of acres between the Miamies; this was changed 
very shortly to a contract for one million, extending from the 
Great Miami eastwardly twenty miles; but the contractorbeing 
unable to pay for all he wished, in 1792, a patent was issued 
for 248,540 acres. But although his tract was by contract 
limited toward the east, and greatly curtailed in its extent 
toward the north, by his failure to pay the whole amount due, 
Judge Symmes had not hesitated to sell lands lying between 
the eastern boundary of his purchase and the Little Miami, 
and even after his patent issued continued to dispose of an 
imaginary right in those north of the quantity patented. The 
first irregularity, the sale of lands along the Little Mi- 
ami, was cured by the act of Congress in 1792, which author- 
ized the extension of his purchase from one river to the other; 

*For the title of Connecticut and the above facts, see American State Papers, xvi. 94 to 
98, and American Pioneer, ii. 24. 

■J"Scc American Pioneer, ii. 23, Ac. 



494 Settlement of Dayton. 1790-95. 

but the sales of territory north of the tract transferred to him 
by Congress, were so entirely unauthorized in the view of the 
government, that in 1796.it refused to recognize them as valid, 
and those who had become purchasers beyond the patent 
line, were at the mercy of the Federal rulers, until an act 
was procured in their favor in 1799, by which pre-emption 
rights were secured to them. Among those who were thus 
left in suspense during three years, were the settlers through- 
out the region of which Dayton forms the centre.* 

Seventeen days after Wayne's treaty, St. Clair, Wilkinson, 
Jonathan Dayton and Israel Ludlow contracted with Symmes 
for the seventh and eighth ranges between iMad river and the 
Little Miami. Three settlements were to be made, one at 
the mouth of Mad River, one on the Little Miami, in the sev- 
enth range, and another on the Mad river. On the 21st of 
September, 1795, Daniel C. Cooper started to survey and 
mark out a road in the purchase, and John Dunlap to run its 
boundaries, which was done before the 4th of October. Upon 
the 4th of November, Mr. Ludlow laid off the town of Daj*- 
ton, which was disposed of by lottery. f 

From 1790 to 1795, the Governor and Judges of the North- 
west Territory published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of 
these were adopted at Cincinnati, during June, July and 
August of the last named year, and were intended to form a 
pretty complete body of statutory provisions: they are known 
as the Maxwell Code, from the name of the publisher, but 
were passed by Governor St. Clair and .Judges Symmes and 
Turner. Among them was that which provided that the com- 
mon law of England and all statutes in aid thereof made 
previous to the fourth year of James the 1st, should be in full 
force within the territory. Of the system, as a whole, Mr. 
Chase says, that with many imperfections, "it may be doubted 
whether any colony, at so early a period after its first estab- 
lishment, ever had one so goocl."J 

Just after the conclusion of Wayne's treaty, a speculation 
in Michigan of the most gigantic kind was undertaken by 

*See for the full particulars of Sj-mmcs' contract, American State Papers, xvi. 75, 104 
127. 
tSee B. Yancleve's Memoranda, American Pioneer, ii. 294, 295. 

X Sketch of Uistory of Ohio, p. 27. For the laws fiom 1790 to 1795, fee Chase's Statutes, 
i. 103 to 204. 



1790-95. Vaj'ious Land Speculations. 495 

certain astute New Englanders, named Robert Randall, Chas. 
Whitney, Israel Jones, Ebenezer Allen, &c., who, in connec- 
tion with various persons in and about Detroit, proposed to 
buy of the Indians eighteen or twenty million acres, lying 
on lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, the pre-emption right of 
which they hoped to obtain from the United States, by giving 
members of Congress an interest in the investment. Some of 
the members who were approached, however, revealed the 
plan, and Randall, the principal conspirator, having been re- 
primanded, the whole speculation disappeared.* 

Another enterprise, equally gigantic, but far less objectiona- 
ble, dates from the 20th of February, 1795; we refer to the 
North American Land Company, which was formed in Phila- 
delphia under the management of Robert Morris, John Nichol- 
son, and James Greenleaf. This Company owned vast tracts 
in various States, which, under an agreement bearing date as 
above, were offered to the public. f 

But we have hitherto taken no notice of Jay's treaty in so 
far as it concerned the west ; nor have we mentioned the nego- 
tiations with Spain which secured the use of the Mississippi. 
To these we may now turn. The portion of Mr. Jay's treaty 
with which we are concerned, is the second article, and that 
is as follows : 

Art. 2. His IMajesty will withdraw all his troops and gar- 
rison from all posts and places within the boundary lines as- 
signed by the treaty of peace to the United States. This 
evacuation shall take place on or before the first day of June, 
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and all the proper 
measures shall be taken in the interval by concert between the 
government of the United States and His ]\Iajesty's Gover- 
nor General in America, for settling the previous arrange- 
ments which may be necessary respecting the delivery of the 
said posts: the United States, in the mean time, at their dis- 
cretion, extending their settlements to any part within the said 
boundary line, except within the precincts or jurisdiction of any 
of the said posts. All settlers and traders within the precincts or 
jurisdiction of the said posts, shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, 
all their property, of every kind, and shall be protected therein. 
They shall be at full liberty to remain there, or to remove with 
all or any part of their effects; and it shall also be free to them 
to sell their lands, houses or effects, or retain the property 

* See papers and evidence, American State Papers, xx. 125 to 133. 
t Observations on the North American Land Company, London, 1796. Imlay (Ed. 1797) 
p. 572. 



496 Treaty with Spain. 1790-95. 

thereof, at their discretion ; such of them as shall continue to 
reside ^vithin the said boundary lines shall not be compelled 
to become citizens of the United States, or to take any oath 
of allegiance to the government thereof; but they shall be at 
full liberty so to do if they think proper ; they shall make and 
declare their election within one year after the evacuation 
aforesaid. And all persons who shall continue there after the 
expiration of the said year, without having declared their in- 
tention of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, shall 
be considered as having elected to become citizens of the 
United States.* 

Turning to the negotiation with Spain, we find, that in 
November, 1794, Thomas Pinckney was despatched to treat 
with the court of Madrid, in relation to boundaries to the Mis- 
sissippi, and to general trade. Many reams of paper had been 
spoiled by previous messengers, Jay, Carmichael and Short, to 
little purpose, and it was a matter of three months' farther 
correspondence, to mature the treaty of October 27th, 1795. 
This treaty, signed by plain Thomas Pinckney, "a citizen of the 
United States, and their envoy extraordinary to His Catholic 
Majesty," on the one part, and on the other by "the most Ex- 
cellent Lord Don Manuel de Godoy and Alvarez de Faria, 
Rios, Sanchez, Zarzosa, Prince de la Paz, Duke de la Alcudia, 
Lord of the Soto de Roma and of the State of Albala, Gran- 
dee of Spain of the first class. Perpetual Regidor of the city 
of Santiago, Knight of the illustrious order of the Golden 
Fleece and Great Cross of the royal and distinguished Spanish 
order of Charles III., commander of Valencia del Yentoso 
Rivera, and Aceuchal in that of Santiago, Knight and Great 
Cross of the religious order of St. John, Counsellor of State, 
First Secretary of State and Despatcho, Secretary to the 
Queen, Superintendent General of the Ports and Highways, 
Protector of the Royal Academy of the noble Arts and of the 
Royal Societies of Natural History, Botany, Chemistry, and 
Astronomy, Gentleman of the King's Chamber, in employ- 
ment. Captain General of his armies, Inspector and Major of 
the Royal Corps of Body Guards, <fcc. &c. &c.''t contains, among 
other provisions, the following, once deeply interesting to the 
West. 

♦American State Papers, i. 520. For the treaty and correspondence entire, see Ameri- 
can State Papers, i. 470 to 525. 

tThe after history of this man of many titles is a lesson worth the study of all those in 
power : SCO his memoirs translated, London, 1836; alao an article in Westminster Reyi»w, 
for April, 1S3G. 



1790-95. Treaty with Spain 497 

Art. 4. It is likewise agreed that the Western boundary of 
the United States, wliich separates them from the Spanish 
colony of Louisiana, is in the middle of the channel or bed of 
the river Mississippi, from the northern boundary of the said 
States to the completion of the thirty-first degree of latitude 
north of the equator. And his Catholic Majesty has likewise 
agreed that the navigation of the said river in its whole 
breadth, from its source to the ocean, shall be free only to his 
subjects and the citizens of the United States, unless he should 
extend this privilege to the subjects of other powers by special 
convention. 

And in consequence of the stipulations contained in the 
fourth article, His Catholic Majesty will permit the citizens of 
the United States, for the space of three years from this time, 
to deposit their merchandise and effects in the port of New 
Orleans, and to export them from thence without paying any 
other duty than a fair price for the hire of the stores ; and his 
Majesty promises either to continue this permission, if he 
finds, during that time, that it is not prejudicial to the inter- 
ests of Spain, or if he should not agree to continue it there, 
he will assign to them, on another part of the banks of the 
Mississippi, an equivalent establishment.* 

This being approved, closed the Mississippi question and de- 
feated the plans of Sebastian. 

■^American State Papers, i. 547, 549. For treaty, see American State Papers, i. 546 to 
549. For Pinckney's Correspondence, do. 533 to 546. For that of Jay, Carmichael and 
Short, do. 131, 248 to 278, 328, 433 to 446. 



CHAPTER XV. 
EXTENSION OF SETTLEMENTS. 

Surrey of Chillicothe and Cleveland — Settlements in Ohio — Progress in Tennessee — Inter- 
ference of Spain, and Power's mission — Organization of Mississippi Territory — Nullifica- 
tiun in Kentucky — First Legislative Assembly of the Northwest — Constitution of Ken- 
tucky amended. 

The great event of 1796, was the final transfer of the north- 
ern posts from Britain to the United States, under Jay's treaty. 
This was to have taken place on or before the 1st of June, but 
owing to the late period at which the House of Representa- 
tives, after their memorable debate upon the treaty, passed 
the necessary appropriations, it was July before the American 
Government felt itself justified in addressing the authorities in 
Canada in regard to Detroit and the other frontier forts. When 
at last called upon to give them up, the British at once did so, 
and Wayne transferred his head quarters to the neighborhood 
of the Lakes, where a county named from him was established, 
including the northwest of Ohio, the northeast of Indiana, and 
the whole of Michigan.* Meanwhile, the treaty with Spain 
was likely to become ineffectual in consequence of the alli- 
ance of Spain and France upon the 19th of August, and the 
difficulties which, at the same time, arose between the latter 
power and the United States. Spain took advantage of the 
new position of affairs to refuse the delivery of the posts on 
the Mississippi as had been stipulated, and proceeded, as we 
have already related, to tempt the honesty of leading western 
politicians. f 

During this year settlements went on rapidly in the West. 
Early in the year Nathaniel Massie, of whom we have already 
spoken, took steps to found a town upon the Scioto, on a por- 
tion of the lands which he had entered. This town he named, 
when surveyed, Chillicothe. 

* Washington's speech, American State Papers, i. 30. Chase's Sketch p. 27. 

t Pitkins' Uistory United States, ii. 481— American State Papers, i. 559 to 760— Adams' 
Bpeech, American State Papers, i. 44. Documents, do. ii. 20, &c. 66, <tc. 78, Ac. 



1796 Settlement of the Western Reserve. 499' 

" One hundred in and out-lots in the town, M^ere chosen by 
lot, by the first one hundred settlers, as a donation, according 
to the original proposition of the proprietor. A number of in 
and out-lots were also sold to other persons, desiring to settle 
in the town. The first choice of in-lots were disposed of for 
the moderate sum of ten dollars each. The town increased 
rapidly, and before the winter of 1796, it had in it several 
stores, taverns, and shops for mechanics. The arts of civiliz- 
ed life soon began to unfold their power and influence in a 
more systematic manner, than had ever been witnessed by 
many of its inhabitants, especially those who were born and 
raised in the frontier settlements, where neither law nor gos- 
pel were understood or attended to."* 

[There were three places in Ohio, called Chillicothe by the 
Indians, one of which was in the neighborhood of this town 
site. It is a Shawanese word, and denotes j^lace or site. Old 
Chillicothe was on the Little Miami, and the other was on or 
near the Maumee, or Miami of the Lake. The Shawanese 
nation, which originated from the Carolinas, Georgia and Flo- 
rida, was divided into four tribes; the Piqua, Mequachake, 
Kiskapocoke, and Chillicothe tribes. 

We have already given the fact of the reservation made 
by Connecticut, of the tract of country in the northeast part 
of Ohio, known as the "Western Reserve," and of the sale of 
this tract to the "Connecticut Land Company." 

In September, 1796, the town of Cleveland was surveyed, 
and by a treaty with the Iroquois, all their claims to the tract 
east of the river Cuyahoga, were surrendered to the Connecti- 
cut Land Company. 

Cleveland, on Lake Erie, was regarded as an important site 
for a commercial city. It is on a dry, sandy plain, between 
the Lake and Cuyahoga river; gently sloping towards the 
Lake, with a fine water view. It was a point of note in the 
journeyings of the aborigines. 

The Land Company already mentioned, was organized in 
Hartford, Con., on the 5th of September, 1795. The next year, 
the trustees sent out forty-three surveyors, who were instruct- 
ed to divide that part of the Western Reserve that lay east of 
the Cuyahoga river into townships, five miles square. The 

« McDonald's Sketches, pp. 56, 60 to 64. 



500 Settlements further West. 1796 

first resident in Cleveland was a Mr. Job Stiles and family, and 
Mrs. Stiles was mother of the first white child born on the 
Reserve. Immigrants came slowly to the country; a majority 
being from Connecticut, and the peculiar characteristics of the 
puritans of that ancient state, with some modifications, still 
prevail on the Western Reserve.* 

In the western section of the present state of Ohio, settlers 
and speculators appeared in much larger numbers. 

A detachment of American troops, consisting of sixty-five 
men, under the command of Captain Moses Porter, took pos- 
session of the evacuated fort at Detroit, about the 12th of July. 
In September, Winthrop Sergeant, Secretary of the North 
Western Territory, proceeded to Detroit, and organized the 
county of Wayne, and established the civil authority in that 
quarter. 

This year, also, the settlements in the Muskingum, Scioto, 
and Miami valleys, were much extended. The immigrants 
from the New England and middle states, came into the West 
by way of Brownsville and Wheeling. At Brownsville many 
fitted up flat boats and descended the Ohio to Limestone, and 
other points in Kentucky, or else landed on the north side of 
the Ohio. Others proceeded by land from Wheeling, to that 
section of the territory they had selected for their future homes. 
The colonies destined for the valleys of the Muskingum and 
Scioto chiefly passed by this route. 

Small villages and farming settlements were made on the 
banks of the Ohio and its tributaries below the Muskingum. 
Symmes' purchase, on the Miami, underwent rapid changes. 

Cincinnati had increased its population and improved its 
style of buildings. In 1792, it contained about thirty log cab- 
ins, besides the barracks and other buildings connected with 
Fort Washington; and about two hundred and fifty inhabitants. 

The first house of worship, for the first Presbyterian Church, 
was erected. In the beginning of the year 1796, Cincinnati 
had more than one hundred log cabins, beside twelve or fif- 
teen frame houses, and a population of about six hundred per- 
sons.f 

Within the Virginia Military Land District, which lay be- 

* Seo an article by Charles Whittlesey, Esq. in the American Pioneer, ii. 22, .^3. 
t Cincinnati in 1S41, p. 23 — Monette's Valley of the MissLseippi, ii. 313. 



1796 Settlements further West. 501 

tween the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, several new settle- 
ments were made, and surveys were executed by Nathaniel 
Massie, the enterprising pioneer of the Scioto valley, over the 
most fertile lands westward to the Little Miami, as far north 
as Todd's fork, and on all the branches of Paint Creek, and 
eastward to the Scioto. He performed much service as a 
pioneer in extending the settlements and the boundaries of 
civilization in this part of Ohio. As early as 1790, he laid ^ 
out the town of Manchester, on the Ohio, twelve miles above 
Limestone. By the following March, he had his stockade 
complete, and about thirty families within it. 

Emigrants from Virginia, in great numbers, advanced into 
the Scioto valley, and settlements extended on the fine lands 
lying on Paint and Deer creeks, and other branches of the 
Scioto. 

At the same time the pioneers of civilization were gradually 
extending settlements along the Muskingum as far as the 
mouth of Licking. It was in this year that Ebenezer Zane 
obtained the grant of a section of land as the consideration 
of opening a bridle-path from the Ohio river at Wheeling, 
across the country by Chillicothe to Limestone, in Kentucky, 
which was located where 3«rft*sville now is. The United 
States' mail traversed this route for the first time the following 
year.* 

Before the close of the year 1796, the white population of 
the North Western Territory, now included in the State of 
Ohio, had increased to about live thousand souls of all ages. 
These were chiefly distributed in the lower valleys of the 
Muskingum, Scioto and Miami rivers, and on their small tribu- 
taries, within fifty miles of the Ohio river. 

With this progress of settlements, the end of the Indian 
war by the treaty at Greenville, and the delivery of the north- 
ern posts by the British, under Jay's treaty, all apprehension 
of danger on the part of the whites ceased, and friendly in- 
tercourse with the natives succeeded. Such disaffected Indians 
as persisted in their feelings of hostility to the Americans, re- 
tired into the interior of the North Western wilderness, or to 
their allies in Canada. Forts, stations and stockades, became 
useless, and were abandoned to decay. The hardy pioneer 
pushed further into the forest, and men of enterprize and capi- 

* Monette's Valley of the Mississippi, ii. 316. 



502 Affairs in Tennessee. 1796 

tal in the older settlements, became interested in securing 
claims and titles to extensive bodies of fertile lands, and send- 
ing out colonies for their occupation. Settlements were made, 
and towns and villages planted in Western Virginia and Ken- 
tucky. 

During the period in which the "Annals" of the northwest 
have been given, in this and the preceding chapters, frequent 
acts of hostility were committed by the Cherokees and other 
southern Indians on the settlements in Tennessee, especially 
those along the Cumberland river. These depredations, in 
whish many persons were killed and scalped, were committed 
by small marauding parties. The termination of the Indian 
war in the northwest, was followed by treaties with the south 
western Indians, and the cessation of hostilities in that 
quarter. 

In 1790, North Carolina, which claimed jurisdiction over 
the territorial district of Tennessee, ceded to the Federal gov- 
ernment all this territory. The ceded country, by act of Con- 
gress, approved May 20tli, was erected into a territory of the 
United States, under the name of the "South Western Terri- 
tory." The ordinance of 1787, for the North Western Terri- 
tory, (with the exception of tjfie sixth article, prohibiting slave- 
ry,) was adopted as the fundamental law in its organiza- 
tion. 

Notwithstanding the hostile attitude of the Indians, large 
numbers of emigrants, each year, left Virginia, North and 
South Carolina, and even Georgia, for this district of country, 
and settlements continued to extend into the wilderness. In 
1793, the people became impatient of their dependant form of 
government, and adopted an address to the governor, that as 
the territory contained more than five thousand free white 
male persons, (the requisite number, as provided by the ordi- 
nance of 1787,) they might have a territorial Legislature. 

In December of that year, the Governor issued his procla- 
mation for the election of a General Assembly, as provided by 
law. 

The Legislature assembled at Knoxville, in February, 1794, 
and passed the necessary laws to open roads, protect the in- 
habitants from Indian depredations, and other matters. 

(It ought to have been noticed in its proper place, that owing 
to the tardy and vascillating course of North Carohna, the peo- 



1796 State of Frankland. 503 

pie, after several efforts to obtain what they supposed to be 
their rights, elected five deputies from each county, which met 
at Greenville, in November, 1785, formed a constitution, and 
proceeded to organize the "State of Frankland." A Legislature 
was chosen, and a delegation was sent to Congress with their 
constitution, asking for admission into the confederation, which 
was rejected, to avoid collision with North Carolina. The 
State government of Frankland, and that of North Carolina, 
attempted to exercise jurisdiction over the same territory, 
which collision continued for two years, when the new gov- 
ernment, very reluctantly, yielded.)* 

According to a census ordered by the Territorial Legisla- 
ture, in 1795, the aggregate population of the territory was 
77,262 persons; of whom 66,490 were whites, and the remain- 
der slaves and free persons of color. This amount of popula- 
tion more than entitled them to a State government, according 
to the provisions of the ordinance of Congress. 

The governor of the territory issued his proclamation for 
an election of five persons in each county, to meet in conven- 
tion, for the purpose of forming a constitution. This conven- 
tion assembled at Knoxville, on the 11th of January, 1796, 
and formed the constitution, and on the 9th of February, gov- 
ernor Blount, forwarded to Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State, 
a copy. This was sent by Mr. McMinn, who was instructed 
to tarry long enough in Philadelphia, to ascertain whether the 
new State would be admitted into the Union. On the 6th of 
June, the act was passed by Congress to receive the State of 
Tennessee. 

Four years after the organization of the State government, 
the population had increased to 105,602 souls, including 13,- 
584 slaves and persons of color.f 

During 1796, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharpless erect- 
ed " Redstone paper-mill," four miles east of Brownsville; it 
being the first manufactory of the kind west of the Allegha- 
nies.J 

In the month of December, 1796, General Anthony Wayne, 
being on his way from Detroit to Philadelphia, was attacked 
with sickness, and died in a cabin, at or near Erie, (Presqu'ile) 

« Monette's History, ii. 270—272. Haywood's Civil History, 140— IGO. 
■(" Haywood's Civil and Political History of Tennessee — Monette, ii. 2S0. 
X American Pioneer, ii. 64 



504 Interference of Spain in the West. 1797 

in the north part of Pennsylvania. He was born in Chester 
county, Pa. January 1st, 1745; hence in a few days, had he 
lived, he would have been fifty-one years of age. He was a 
distinguished officer in the revolutionary war, a man of unpar- 
alleled bravery, and led the forlorn hope in the attack upon 
Stoney Point. His remains were removed from Presqu'ile in 
1809, by his son. Col. Isaac Wayne, to Radnor church-yard, 
near the place of his birth, and an elegant monument erected 
on his tomb by the Pennsylvania Cincinnati Society.* 

[Before the Spanish posts on the eastern side of the Missis- 
sippi were surrendered to the United States, according to the 
treaty of 1795, efforts were made by agents of France and 
Spain, to induce the people of the western country to separate 
themselves from the American Union, and to establish, in con- 
junction with France and Spain, an independent government 
in the Mississippi valley. After the death of Gen. Wayne, 
Gen. Wilkinson was appointed to the command of the United 
States' troops in this valley. In the month of June, 1797, the 
Baron de Carondelet, Governor General of Louisiana, sent 
Thomas Power, one of his agents, to General Wilkinson, with 
a letter, in which Wilkinson was requested to delay the march 
of the American troops for the posts on the Mississippi, until 
the adjustment of certain questions which were then pending 
between the government of the United States and that of 
Spain. The real object of the mission of Pow^er was to ascer- 
tain the opinions and sentiments of the western people, on 
the subject of a separation from the Union. 

In the mean time, and for some years preceding, the agents 
of Spain were engaged in enlisting the Indians in the south- 
west on their side, and the officers of that government pro- 
ceeded to reinforce and strengthen their posts in Upper Lou- 
isiana. To understand the design of the mission of Power, 
it is necessary to lay before the reader the secret instructions 
of the Baron de Carondelet, dated on the 26th of May, 1797.t 

" On your journey, you will give to understand adroitly, to 
those persons to whom you have an opportunity of speaking, 
that the delivery of the posts which the Spaniards occupy on 
the Mississippi, to the troops of the United States, is directly 

* Burnett's Letters, 49 — Allen's American Biography — Day's Ilistorical CollectioDE of 
Pennsylvania, p. 216 — Encyclopedia Americana, vol. xiii. Article, Wayne. 

t DUIon'8 Indiana, i. ■410— Butler's Kentucky, p. 256— MarihaU's Kentucky, vol. ii. 
219. 



1797 Interference of Spain in the Southwest. 505 

opposed to the interest of those of the west, who, as they must 
one day separate from the Atlantic slates, would find them- 
selves without any communication with lower Louisiana, from 
whence they ought to expect to receive powerful succors in 
artillery, arms, ammunition and money, either publicly or se- 
cretly, as soon as ever the western states should determine on 
a separation, which must injure their prosperity and their in- 
dependence; that, for this reason, Congress is resolved on risk- 
ing every thing to take those posts from Spain ; and that it 
would be forging fetters for themselves, to furnish it with militia 
and means, which it can only find in the western states. These 
same reasons, diffused abroad by means of the public papers, 
might make the strongest impressions on the people, and in- 
duce them to throw oft" the yoke of the Atlantic states. 
* * * If a hundred thousand dollars distributed in Kentucky 
would cause it to rise in insurrection, I am very certain, that 
the minister, in the present circumstances, would sacrifice them 
with pleasure; and you may, without exposing yourself too 
much, promise them to those who enjoy the confidence of the 
people, with another equal sum to arm them, in case of neces- 
sity, and twenty pieces of field artillery. 

"You will arrive without danger, as bearer of a despatch 
for the General, where the army may be, whose force, discip- 
line, and disposition, you will examine with care; and you will 
endeavor to discover, with your natural penetration, the Gene- 
ral's disposition. I doubt that a person of his disposition would 
prefer, through vanity, the advantages of commanding the 
army of the Atlantic states, to that of being the founder, the 
liberator, in fine, the Washington of the Western states : his 
part is as brilliant as it is easy ; all eyes are drawn towards 
him; he possesses the confidence of his fellow citizens, and of 
the Kentucky volunteers : at the slightest movement, the peo- 
ple will name him the General of the new republic; his repu- 
tation will raise an army for him, and Spain as well as France 
will furnish him the means of paying it. On taking Fort Mas- 
sac, we will send him instantly arms and artillery; and Spain,, 
limiting herself to the possession of the forts of Natchez ansl 
Walnut Hills, as far as fort Confederalion, will cede to the 
western states all the eastern bank to the Ohio, which will 
form a very extensive and powerful republic, connected by its 
situation and by its interest, with Spain, and in concert with 
it, will force the savages to become a party to it, and to con- 
found themselves in time with its citizens. 

" The public are discontented with the new taxes ; Spain 
and France are enraged at the connection of the United States 
with England ; the army is weak and devoted to Wilkinson ; 
the threats of Congress authorize me to succor, on the spot, 
and openly, the western states : money will not then be want- 
ing to me, for 1 shall send without delay, a ship to Vera Cruz 
32 



506 The Mission of Thomas Power. 1797 

in search of it, as well as of ammunition ; nothing more will 
consequently be required, but an instant of firmness and reso- 
lution to make the people of the west perfectly happy. If they 
suffer this instant to escape them, and we are forced to deliver 
up the posts, Kentucky and Tennessee, surrounded by the said 
posts, and without communication with Lower Louisiana, will 
ever remain under the oppression of- the Atlantic states."* 

" The emissary. Power, passed through Tennessee, Kentucky 
and the North Western Territory, as far as Detroit, where he 
found General Wilkinson, and communicated his message 
about the posts down the Mississippi. The General wrote a 
letter to Captain Robert Buntin of Vincennes, dated "Detroit, 
September 4th, 1797," in which he expresses fears that the 
posts would not be surrendered without war, but suggests the 
letter " may be a mask for other purposes." 

The result of Power's mission, was the entire defeat of the 
project. Contrary to his remonstrances, he was obliged to 
return to Louisiana by the way of Vincennes and Fort Mas- 
sac, under the escort of Captain Shaumberg, of the American 
army. It appears that the United States' government got in- 
formation of this nefarious mission, and issued orders to the 
governor of the North Western Territory, to arrest Power and 
send him to Philadelphia.!] 

The '* occupying claimant" law of Kentucky — which was 
intended to relieve those who were ejected from lands, from 
the hardship of paying rent for the time they had held them, 
while their improvements were not paid for or regarded — was 
also passed in this year. It was afterwards decided by the 
Supreme Court of the United States, to be unconstitutional, 
but the justice of that decision was not acquiesced in by the 
best men of Kentucky, and the Appellate Court of that State 
never recognized it, upon the ground that it was not a decision 
of the majority of the Supreme Court. J 

Detroit, during 1797, contained, as we learn from Weld, 
three hundred houses. § 

[The Congress of the United States, on the 7th of April, 
1798, passed an act organizing the territory of the Mississippi, 

* American Sta'e Papers, Miscellaneous ii. 103. 
t Butlcr'a Kentucky, 251 — Dillon's Indiana, i. 414.] 
X Marshall, ii. 203-221;— Butler, 266 to 279. 
J Weld's Travels, ii. 183. 



1798. Mississippi Territory organized. SQ"? 

and Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the North-western Ter- 
ritory, was appointed the Governor.* Mr. Sargent, for some 
cause, was an unpopular man as Secretary and acting Gov- 
ernor in the absence of St. Clair. He was a pompous, over- 
bearing man; and in 1801, he was accused of misdoings in 
Mississippi.!] During the spring of this j'ear General Wil- 
kinson had been ordered to the country still held by the Span- 
iards, who, however, abandoned the region in dispute with- 
out serious opposition. By the 10th of October, the line 
dividing the possessions of Spain and the Federal Govern- 
ment was in a great measure run, and the head-quarters of 
the American commander were fixed at Loftus Heights, six 
miles north of the 31st degree of North latitude.J 

The appointment of Sargent to the charge of the South- 
west Territory, led to the choice of William Henry Harrison, 
who had been aid-de-camp to General Wayne in 1794, and 
whose character stood very high in the estimation of all who 
knew him, to the Secretaryship of the North-west ; which 
place he held until appointed to represent that territory in 
Congress. § 

The North-western Territory, as may be seen by a reference 
to the ordinance of 1787, was to have a representative assem- 
bly as soon as its inhabitants numbered five thousand. Upon 
the 29th of October, Governor St. Clair gave notice by proc- 
lamation that the required population existed, and directed 
an election of representatives to be held on the third Monday* 
in December. 

[The representatives, when assembled, were required ta 
nominate ten persons, whose names were sent to the Presi- 
dent of the United States, who selected five, and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate appointed them, for the 
Legislative Council. 

In this mode the country passed into the second grade of a 
territorial government.]|j 

During the summer of 1798, the famous alien and sedition 
laws were passed by Congress. They were, by the Demo- 

^ American State Papcr.J, ix. 203. 

•f" For particulars reference is had to Burnett's Letters, p. 79 ; the Freeman's Journal 
(Cincinnati) November 26th, 1796 ; and American State Papers, xx. 233 to 241. 
% Wilkinson's Memoirs, i. 434 and ii. 133. 

§ Burnet, in Ohio Historical Transactions, part 2, vol, ii, p. 69. 
I Dillon i. 431. Burnet in Ohio Ilistorical Transactions, part 2, vol. L p. 70. 



508 Nullification in Kentucky. 1798. 

cratic party every where regarded with horror, and hated, and 
in Virginia and Kentucky especially, called forth in opposi- 
tion the most able men, and produced the most violent meas- 
ures. The Governor of Kentucky called the attention of the 
Legislature to them, and upon the 8th of November resolu- 
tions, prepared by Mr. Jefferson, were introduced into the 
House, declaring that the United States are "united by a com- 
pact under the style and title of a constitution for the United 
States ; that to this compact, each State acceded, as a State, 
and is an integral party, its co-States forming to itself the 
other party ; that the government created by this compact, 
was not made the exclusive or^na/ judge of the extent of 
the powers delegated to itself; but that, as in all other cases 
of compact among parties having no common judge, each 
party has an equal right to judge for himself, as well of 
infractions as the mode and manner of redress." And this 
doctrine was further developed by the mover of the resolu- 
tions, Mr. John Breckenridge : said he, " I consider the co- 
States to be alone parties to the federal compact, and solely 
authorized to judge in the last resort of the power exercised 
under the compact — Congress not being a party, but merely 
the creature of the compact, and subject as to its assumption 
of power, to the final judgment of those by whom, and for 
whose use, itself and its powers were all created." In an- 
other passage he says, " if upon the representation of the 
States from whom they derive their powers, they should nev- 
ertheless attempt to enforce them, I hesitate not to declare it 
as my opinion, that it is then the right and duty of the seve- 
ral States, to mdlify those acts, and protect thcii- citizens from 
their operation."* 

To this doctrine, since disclaimed by Kentucky, in a clear 
and formal declaration, in 1S3S, William Murray, of Frank- 
lin, alone offered a steady opposition, and took the ground 
since occupied by Mr. Webster with so great power; but he 
argued in vain, the Senate unanimously passed the resolu- 
tions, the House acted with almost equal unanimity, and the 
Governor gave them his approbation. f 

* Butler from 2S5 to 2S7. 

t Butler, 2S5, kc. See the Virginia resolutions, the alien and sedition law3, the debata 
in Virginia, the resolutions of other States, and Madison's "Vindication," in a volume 
published at Richmond, bj Robert I. Smith, in 1132. See also North American Review, 
Tol. 31, (Oct 1840.) This is a very full and able paper.— Marshall, ii. 254, Ac, 317. 



1790. North-Western Legislature organized. 609 

A change in the Penal Code of Kentucky took place dur- 
ing 1798, by which the punishment of death was confined to 
the crime of murder; and for all others the penitentiary sys- 
tem was substituted.* 

[The election of Representatives having taken place in 
December, they met on the 22nd of January, 1799, and per- 
formed their first duty by nominating ten persons, whose 
names were sent to the President of the United States. Gov- 
ernor St. Clair then prorogued the session until the 16th of 
September. On the second of March, President Adams se- 
lected from the list of ten nominees, the names of Jacob 
Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vanderburgh, Robert Oliver, 
and David Vance. The next day the Senate confirmed the 
nomination of these gentlemen for the Legislative Council, 
or Upper House, in the Territorial Legislature, for five years. 

On the 16th of September, both branches of the legislature 
assembled at Cincinnati, but a quorum not appearing, the 
two houses were not organized until the 24th of September. 

As this was the first House of Representatives elected by 
the people of the North-western Territory, it is deemed neces- 
sary to record their names and the counties they represented. 

Hamilton County. — William Goforth, William McMillan, 
John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Cadwell, 
Isaac Martin. 

Ross County. — Thomas Worthington, Samuel Finlay, Elias 
Langham, Edward Tiffin. 

Wayne County (now Michigan). — Solomon Sibley, Charles 
F. Chobert de Joncaire, Jacob Visger. 

Adams County. — Joseph Darlington, Nathaniel Massie. 

Jefferson County. — James Pritchard. 

Washington County. — Return Jonathan Meigs. 

Knox County., (including the Illinois country) — Shadrach 
Bond, from Illinois. 

They elected Edward Tiffin, Speaker; John Reilly, Clerk; 
Joshua Rowland, Door-keeper ; and Abraham Cary, Ser- 
geant-at-arms. 

Henry Vanderburgh was chosen President of the Council, 
and William C. Schenk, Secretary. 

Both houses being fully organized, were addressed by Gov- 
ernor St. Clair, on the 25th day of September. From the 

» Butler, 281. Marshall, ii. 238. 



510 W. H. Harrison chosen Delegate from N. W. Tcrr'y. 1799. 

letters of the Hon. Jacob Burnet, the only surviving member 
of this body, (in 1850,) we extract the following account of 
these early proceedings.] 

The Governor met the two houses in the representatives' 
chamber, and in a very elegant address, recommended such 
measures as he thought were suited to the condition of the 
country, and would advance the safety and prosperity of the 
people. The legislative body continued in session till the 
19th of December, when having finished their business, the 
governor prorogued them, at their request, till the first Mon- 
day in November. This being the first session, it was neces- 
sarily a very laborious one. The transition from a colonial 
to a semi-independent government, called for a general revi- 
sion, as well as a considerable enlargement of the statute- 
book. Some of the adopted laws were repealed, many others 
altered and amended, and a long list of new ones added to 
the code. New offices were to be created and filled — the du- 
ties attached to them prescribed, and a plan of ways and 
means devised, to meet the increased expenditures, occasioned 
by the change which had just taken place. As the number of 
members in each branch was small, and a large portion of 
them either unprepared or indisposed to partake largely of the 
labors of the session, the pressure fell on the shoulders of a 
few. Although the branch to which I belonged, was com- 
posed of sensible, strong-minded men, yet they were unac- 
customed to the duties of their new station, and not conver- 
sant with the science of law. The consequence was, that 
they relied chiefly and almost entirely on me, to draft and 
prepare the bills and other documents, which originated in 
the council, as will appear by referring to the journal of the 
session. One of the important duties which devolved on the 
legislature was the election of a delegate to represent the 
territory in Congress, As soon as the governor's proclama- 
tion made its appearance, the election of a person to fill that 
station excited general attention. Before the meeting of the 
legislature, public opinion had settled down on William 
Henry Harrison, and Arthur St. Clair, jun., who were event- 
ually the only candidates. On the 3d of October, the two 
houses met in the representatives' chamber, according to a 
joint resolution, and proceeded to the election. The ballots 
being taken and counted, it appeared that William Henry 



1799. First laws of the Legislature. 5ll 

Harrison had eleven votes, and Arthur St. Clair, jun., ten 
votes; — the former was therefore declared to be duly elected. 
The legislature by joint resolution, prescribed the form of a 
certificate of his election : having received that certificate, he 
resigned the office of Secretary of the territory — proceeded 
forthwith to Philadelphia, and took his seat. Congress being 
then in session. Though he represented the territory but one 
year, he obtained some important advantages for his constit- 
uents. He introduced a resolution to subdivide the surveys 
of the public lands, and to offer them for sale in small tracts 
— he succeeded in getting that measure through both houses, 
in opposition to the interests of speculators w^ho were, and 
M^ho wished to be, the retailers of land to the poorer classes 
of the community. His proposition became a law, and was 
hailed as the most beneficent act that Congress had ever done 
for the territory. It put it in the power of every industrious 
man, however poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a foun- 
dation for the future support, and comfort of his family. At 
the same session, he obtained a liberal extension of time for 
the pre-emptioners in the northern part of the Miami pur- 
chase, which enabled them to secure their farms, and eventu- 
ally to become independent, and even wealthy.* 

From a circular by Harrison to the people of the territory, 
dated May 14, 1800, we quote in relation to this matter the 
following passage : 

" Amongst the variety of objects which engaged my atten- 
tion, as peculiarly interesting to our territory, none appeared 
to me of so much importance, as the adoption of a system for 
the sale of the public lands, which would give more favorable 
terms to that class of purchasers who are likely to become 
actual settlers, than was offered by the existing laws upon 
that subject ; conformably to this idea, I procured the passage 
of a resolution at an early period for the appointment of a 
committee to take the matter into consideration. And short- 
ly after I reported a bill containing terms for the purchaser, 
as favorable as could have been expected. This bill was 
adopted by the house of representatives without any mate- 
rial alteration ; but in the senate, amendments were intro- 
duced, obliging the purchaser to pay interest on that part of 
the money for which a credit was given from the date of the 
purchase, and directing that one half the land (instead of the 
whole, as was provided by the bill from the house of repre- 

* Historical Transactions of Ohio, i. 71. 



512 Remarks of 3Ir. Chase. 1799 

sentatives,) should be sold in half sections of three hundred 
and twenty acres, andthe other half in whole sections of six 
hundred and forty acres. All my exertions, aided by some of 
the ablest members of the lower house, at a conference for 
that purpose, were not sufficient to induce the senate to re- 
cede from their amendments; but, upon the whole, there is 
cause of congratulation to my fellow-citizens that terms as 
favorable as the bill still contains, have been procured. This 
law promises to be the foundation of a great increase of pop- 
ulation and w^ealth to our country ; for although the minimum 
price of the land is still fixed at two dollars per acre, the time 
for making payments has been so extended as to put it in the 
power of every industrious man to comply with them, it being 
only necessary to pay one-fourth part of the money in hand, 
and the balance at the end of two, three, and four years ; be- 
sides this, the odious circumstance of forfeiture, which was 
made the penalty of failing in the payments under the old 
law, is entirely abolished, and the purchaser is allowed one 
year after the last payment is due to collect the money ; if 
the land is not then paid for, it is sold, and, after the public 
have been reimbursed, the balance of the money is returned 
to the purchaser. Four land-offices are directed to be opened 
— one at Cincinnati, one at Chilicothe, one at Marietta, and 
one at Steubenville, for the sale of the lands in the neigh- 
borhood of those places." (Life of Harrison, by Todd and 
Drake, p. 20.) 

To the foregoing paragraphs by Judge Burnet, our first 
law-maker, may be properly added the following from Mr. 
Chase, the first collector of our Northwestern Statutes. 

The whole number of acts passed and approved by the 
governor was thirty- seven. Of these the most important re- 
lated to the militia, to the administration of justice, and to 
taxation. Provision was made for the efficient organization 
and discipline of the military force of the territor}-; justices 
of the peace were authorised to hear and determine all ac- 
tions upon the case, except trover, and all actions of debt, 
except upon bonds for the performance of covenants, without 
limitation as to the amount in controversy ; and a regular 
system of taxation was established. The tax for territorial 
purposes, was levied upon lands ; that for county purposes, 
upon persons, personal property, and houses and lots. 

During this session, a bill, authorising a lottery for a pub- 
lic purpose, passed by the council, was rejected by the repre- 
sentatives. Thus early was the policy adopted of interdict- 



1799. Remarks of Mr. Chase. 513 

ing this demoralizing and ruinous mode of gambling and tax- 
ation ; a policy which, with but a temporary deviation, has 
ever since honorably characterized the legislature of Ohio. 

Before adjournment, the legislature issued an atldress to 
the people, in which they congratulated their constituents 
upon the change in the form of government ; rendered an ac- 
count of their public conduct as legislators; adverted to the 
future greatness and importance of this part of the American 
empire ; and the provision made by the national government 
for secular and religious instruction in the west ; and upon 
these considerations, urged upon the people the practice of 
industry, frugality, temperance and every moral virtue. " Re- 
ligion, morality and knowledge," said they, " are necessary to 
all good governments. Let us, therefore, inculcate the 
principles of humanity, benevolence, honesty and punctu- 
ality in dealing, sincerity, and charity, and all the social affec- 
tions." 

About the same time an address was voted to the President 
of the United States, expressing the entire confidence of the 
legislature in the wisdom and purity of his administration, 
and their warm attachment to the American constitution and 
government. The vote upon this address proved that the 
differences of political sentiment, which then agitated all the 
states, had extended to the territory. The address was carried 
by eleven ayes against five noes. 

On the nineteenth of December, this protracted session of 
the first legislature was terminated by the governor. In his 
speech on this occasion he enumerated eleven acts, to which, 
in the course of the session, he had thought fit to apply his ab- 
solute veto. These acts he had not returned to the legislature, 
because the two houses were under no obligation to consider 
the reasons on which his veto was founded; and, at any rate, 
as his negative was unqualified, the only effect of such a re- 
turn would be to bring on a vexatious, and probably fruitless, 
altercation between the legislative body and the executive. 
Of the eleven acts thus negatived, six related to the erection 
of new counties. These were disapproved for various rea- 
sons, but mainly because the governor claimed that the power 
exercised in enacting them, was vested by the ordinance, not 
in the legislature, but in himself. This free exercise of the 
veto power excited much dissatisfaction among the people, 



514 Kentucky amends her Constitution. 1800 

and the controversy which ensued between the governor and 

the legislature, as to the extent of their respective powers, 
tended to confirm and strengthen the popular disafTection.* 

During this year Kentucky proceeded to amend her Consti- 
tution, now seven years old. It is not our purpose to enter 
into the details of the several State charters, and we shall 
only mention the fact that the earliest born of our western 
commonwealths, when change was made in her fundamental 
law, gave it a more democratic and popular character. This 
was done by making the choice of the senate and governor 
direct, instead of being as formerly through a college of elec- 
tors ; and by limiting the veto power.f 

In 1799, Kentucky began, or rather threatened to begin, a 
system of internal improvements, by a survey of the river 
upon which her capital stands ; the work recommended by 
the engineer, however, and which might have been done very 
cheaply, was not undertaken.J 



CHAPTER XVI. 
OHIO AND INDIANA. 

Territory of Indiana organized — DiflScultios with Governor St. Clair — Organization of the 
State of Ohio — DiflBcultics with Spain renewed — Purchase of Louisiana from France — 
Beason? for its sale by Napoleon explained — History of Symmes' College Township — 
Detroit burnt and re-built — Movements and Intrigues of Aaron Burr — His Trial and 
Purposes — Extensive purchases from the Indians. 

The great extent of the territory northwest of the Ohio made 
the ordinary operations of Government extremely uncertain, 
and the efficient action of Courts almost impossible. The 
Committee of Congress, who, upon the 3d of March, 1800, re- 
ported upon the subject, said : — 

• Chase's Sketch p. 20. 

t Marshall, ii. 233, 246, 252, 292, 293, etc.— Butler 290. 

X Marshall, ii. 317.— Butler, 293. 



1800 Indiana Territory Formed. 515 

111 the three western countries there has been but one court 
having cognizance of crimes in five years; and the immunity 
which offenders experience, attracts, as to an asykim, the most 
vile and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters 
useful and virtuous persons from making settlements in such 
society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and as- 
sistance, is experienced in civil as well as criminal cases. 
The supplying to vacant places such necessary officers as may 
be wanted, such as clerks, recorders, and others of like kind, 
is, from the impossibility of correct notice and information, 
utterly neglected. This Territory is exposed, as a frontier, to 
foreign nations, whose agents can find sufficient interest in 
exciting or fomenting insurrection and discontent, as thereby 
they can more easily divert a valuable trade in furs from the 
United States, and also have a part thereof on which they 
border, which feels so little the cherishing hand of their pro- 
per Government, or so little dread of its energy, as to render 
their attachment perfectly uncertain and ambiguous. The 
committee would further suggest, that the law of the 3d of 
March, 1791, granting land to certain persons in the western 
part of said territory, and directing the laying out of the same, 
remains unexecuted; that great discontent, in consequence of 
such neglect, is excited in those who were interested in the 
provisions of said law, and which require the immediate atten- 
tion of this legislature. To minister a remedy to these evils, 
it occurs to this committee that it is expedient that a division 
of said territory into two distinct and separate governments 
should be made; and that such division be made, by a line be- 
ginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, running direct- 
ly north, until it intersects the boundary between the United 
States and Canada.* 

In accordance with the spirit of this resolution an act was 

passed, and approved upon the 7th of May, from which we 
extract these provisions : 

That from and after the 4th day of July next, all that part 
of the territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio 
river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the 
Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running 
thence to fort Recovery, and thence north, until it shall inter- 
sect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, 
shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a 
separate territory, and be called the Indiana territory. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be estab- 
lished within the said territory a government, in all respects 
similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed 
on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-seven, for the government of the territory of the 

* American State Papeis, xz. 206. 



516 Indiana Territory Formed. 1800 

United States northwest of the river Ohio; and the inhabitants 
thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy, all and singular, the 
rights, privileges and advantages, granted and secured to the 
people by the said ordinance. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted. That so much of the or- 
dinance for the government of the territory of the United 
States northwest of the Ohio river, as relates to the organiza- 
tion of a General Assembly therein, and prescribes the powers 
thereof, shall be in force and operate in the Indiana Territory, 
whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the Governor 
thereof, that such is the wish of a majority of the freeholders, 
notwithstanding there may not be therein five thousand free 
male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards: 
Provided, that until there shall be five thousand free male in- 
habitants, of twenty-one years and upwards, in said territory, 
the whole number of Representatives to the General Assembly 
shall not be less than seven, nor more than nine, to be appor- 
tioned by the Governor to the several counties in said territory, 
agreeably to the number of free males of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards, which they may respectively contain. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That nothing in this act 
contained, shall be construed so as in any manner to affect 
the government now in force in the territory of the United 
States northwest of the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the 
exercise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after 
the aforesaid fourth day of July next: Provided, That, when- 
ever that part of the territory of the United States whichlies 
to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great 
Miami river, and running thence, due north, to the territorial 
line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected 
into an independent State, and admitted into the Union on an 
equal footing with the original States, thenceforth said line 
shall become and remain permanently the boundary line be- 
tween such State and the Indiana Territory, any thing in this 
act contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That until it shall be 
otherwise ordered by the Legislatures of the said Territories, 
respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto river, shall be the seat 
of the government of the Territory of the United States north- 
west of the Ohio river ; and that St. Vincennes, on the Wa- 
bash river, .shall be the seat of the government for the Indiana 
Territory."* 

[William Henry Harrison, through whose agency as the del- 
egate in Congress, the formation of this Territory was obtain- 
ed, was appointed Governor.] 

We have already mentioned, that Connecticut in her Re- 

* Land Laws, 451. 



1800 Governor St. Clair''s Speech. 517 

serve had retained the jurisdiction thereof, as well as the soil. 
When she disposed of the soil, however, troubles at once 
arose, for the settlers found themselves without a government 
upon which to lean. Upon their representation, the mother 
state, in October 1797, authorized her Senators to release her 
jurisdiction over the Reserve, to the Union; upon the 21st of 
March, 1800, a Committee of Congress reported in favor of 
accepting this cession, and upon the 30th of May, the release 
was made by the Governor of the State, in accordance with a 
law passed during that month ; the United States issuing let- 
ters patent to Connecticut for the soil, and Connecticut trans- 
ferring all her claims of jurisdiction to the Federal Govern- 
ment.* At that time, settlements had been commenced in 
thirty-five of the townships, and one thousand persons had 
become settlers; mills had been built, and seven hundred miles 
of road cut in various directions.-]- 

[The "Connecticut Reserve" continued to receive numerous 
emigrants from the New England States, who formed settle- 
ments chiefly near Lake Erie. The population in this part of 
the territory had increased so fast, that in December, 1800, 
the county of Trumbull w^as organized. About this period a 
large number of settlers on the "Pennsylvania Grants," north- 
west of the Alleghany river, who bad made an unfortunate 
bargain with certain rich land owners, abandoned their im- 
provements, to avoid litigation, and retired to the southern 
part of the Western Reserve. They were an acquisition to 
this part of Ohio, and by industry and frugality, in a few years 
more than retrieved the loss of their improvements. J] 

Congress having made Chillicothe the Capital of the north- 
western Territory, on the 3d of November, 1800, the General 
Assembly met at that place. At this meeting Governor St. 
Clair in strong terms expressed his sense of the want of pop- 
ularity under which he labored; he said : — 

" My term of ofiice, and yours, gentlemen of the House of 
Representatives, will soon expire. — It is, indeed, very uncer- 
tain, whether I shall ever meet another Assembly, in the char- 
acter I now hold, for I well know, that the vilest calumnies and 
the greatest falsehoods, are insidiously circulated among the 

* American State Papers, xri. 94 to 98 — Chase's Statutes, i. 64 to 66. 
t American Stnte Papers, xvi. 97. 
X American Pioneer, ii. pp. 368, 371. 



518 Secret Treaty of Udefonso. 1800 

people, with a view to prevent it. While I regret the base- 
ness and malevolence of the authors, and well know that the 
laws have put the means of correction fully in my power, they 
have nothing t'j dread from me but the contempt they justly 
merit. The remorse of their own consciences will one day be 
punishment sufficient: — Their arts may, however, succeed : — 
Be that as it may, of this I am certain, that, be my succe^or 
whom he may, he can never have the interests of the people 
of this Territory more truly at heart than I have had. nor labor 
more assiduously for their good than I have done; and I am 
not conscious that any one act of my administration has been 
influenced by any other motive than a sincere desire to pro- 
mote their welfare and happiness.* 

Notwithstanding the general dislike felt towards him, how- 
ever, St. Clair was reappointed in 1801, to the place he had so 
long occupied. 

Toward the close of this year the first Missionary to the 
Connecticut Reserve, came thither under the patronage of the 
Connecticut Missionary Society. He found no township con- 
taining more than eleven families. f 

Upon the 1st of October, in this year, the secret treaty of St. 
Ildefonso was made between Napoleon as First Consul, and the 
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France 
the province of Louisiana-^ 

Bv this year's census. Kentucky contained 179. S75 whites ; 
and 40..343 slaves: an increase in ten years of 118.742 whites, 
and 28913 slaves.§ 

The Governor and several of the legislators of the north- 
western Territory" having been insulted during the autumn of 
1801 at Chillicothe, while the Assembly was in session — and 
no measures being taken by the authorities of the Capitol to 
protect the Executive — a law was passed removing the seat 
of government to Cincinnati again.J But it was not des- 
tined that the Territorial Assembly should meet again any- 

* Boniet's Letters, p. 73. 

t ABericBB Pkneer, li. 275. 

I AaerieuiStete Papers, iL 507. 

I MaRhall, ii 332. 

tBornet's lettcis, 75. We state the fact a> giTen bj Jadge Boniet, bat e^noot recoBcQ* 
itwiththe Jotimals. Oa the 16th of December the removal of the eeat • f goreroment wis 
broached in the Hoom. (Jourcai of Hoose, 62 :) oo the I9th it was foUr debated, (Jour- 
nal, 71 to 73 :) oo the 2i.-t was passed by the Hrnse, (Joani<l of Hous.-, 77 ;) oo the same 
day it was paaeed by the Council, (Joanial of Cooncil, 32, 33;) on the 24th it w.!8 signed by 
the Speaker and Pieadeot, (Joomal of CooiKal, 35,} aad given the Goreraor for his appro- 



1800. New Orleans closed against Americans. 519 

where. The unpopularity of St. Clair, already referred to, 
was causing many to long for a State government and self- 
rule. This unpopularity arose in part from the feelings con- 
nected with his defeat ; in part from his being identified with 
the Federal party then fast falling into disrepute ; and in part 
from his assuming powers which most thought he had no 
right to exercise, especially the power of sub-dividing the 
counties of the Territory. 

But the opposition, though very powerful out of the Assem- 
bly, was in the minority, even in the House of Representatives, 
and during December, 1801, was forced to protest against a 
measure brought forward in the Council for changing the Or- 
dinance of 1787 in such a manner as to make the Scioto and 
a line drawn from the intersection of that river and the Indian 
boundary to the western extremity of the Connecticut Re- 
serve, the limit of the most eastern State to be formed from 
the territory. This change, if made, would long have post- 
poned the formation of a State Government beyond the Ohio, 
and against it Tiffin, Worthington, Langham, Darlinton, Mas- 
sie, Dunlavy, and Morrow, recorded solemnly their objections. 
Not content with this it was determined that some one should 
at once visit Washington on behalf of the objectors, and upon 
the 20th of December, Thomas Worthington obtained leave 
of absence for the remainder of the session. His acts and 
those of his co-laborers belong to the next year.* 

[From 1799 to 1803 the territorial legislature met annual!}^, 
but made not many laws, owing to the extraordinary powers 
conferred on the Governor, by the ordinance of 1787, and the 
very arbitrary manner by which he vetoed many of the bills 
that passed. During the period of the territorial legislature, 
most of the business usually done by territorial legislatures 
since, was done by the governor of the territorj'. He erected 
new counties, fixed county seats, and issued divers procla- 
mations enacting laws by his own authority, and put his veto 
upon all legislative enactments, which he fancied encroached 

bation, (Journal of House, 89.) On the night of the 25th and 26th the only riots men- 
tioned in the Journals took place. (Journal of Council, 39 ; Journal of House, 98.) On 
the 21it of December Mr. Burnet asked leave of absence for ten days which was granted; 
(Journal of Council, .33.) The Governor's approbation to the bill was given January Istj 
(Journal of House, 108.) Possibly his consent was determined by the riots. 

*• Journal of House, 81 to 83 and 93. See also Journal of Council, 16 and 17. Journal 
of House, 68. 



520 Worthington' s Mission to Congress. 1802. 

on his prerogatives. Hence his administration became singu- 
larly unpopular.*] 

By the treaty with Spain, New Orleans, or " an equivalent 
establishment," was to be allowed the citizens of the United 
States as a place of deposite for property sent down the Mis- 
sissippi. Until the 16th of October, 1802, no change in rela- 
tion to this place of deposit took place, but on that day Mo- 
rales, the intendant of Louisiana, issued an order putting an 
end to the cherished and all-important privilege granted to 
the Americans. This led to instant excitement and remon- 
strance, and, upon the 7th of January following, to a resolu- 
tion by the House of Representatives, affirming, " their unal- 
terable determination to maintain the boundaries, and the 
rights of navigation and commerce through the River Missis- 
sippi as established by existing treaties."! The act of the 
Intendant had not, it appeared, been authorized by the Span- 
ish Government, and was not acquiesced in by the Governor 
of Louisiana : but the suspension continued notwithstanding, 
until the 25th of February, 1803, when the port was opened 
to provisions, upon paying a duty ; and, in April, orders from 
the King of Spain reached the United States, restoring the 
right of deposit.^ 

In January, 1802, a bill was passed by the Assembly of the 
North- Western Territory, and approved by the Governor, 
establishing a university in the town of Athens. 

We have already noticed the dissatisfaction with Governor 
St. Clair, which prevailed in the North-Western Territory, and 
the wish of a party therein to obtain a State Government, 
although not yet entitled to ask it under the ordinance. Mr. 
Worthington left late in 1801, to urge upon Congress the evils 
of the proposition to change the bounds of the north-western 
States, and if advisable, to procure permission to call a con- 
vention for the formation of a State, having the boundaries 
mentioned in the ordinance, namely, the west line of Penn- 
sylvania, the north and south lines of the territory, and a line 
drawn due north from the mouth of ihe Great Miami. 

t Atwater's History of Ohio, p. 167. 

•American State Papers, ii. 556. 561. 

t See Documente, American State Papers, ii. 469 to 471, 527, 528, 531, 636, 644, 648. 



1802 Worthing ton'' s Mission to Congress. 521 

While Worthington was journeying, upon the 4th of Jan- 
uary, Massie presented a resolution for choosing a committee 
to address Congress in respect to the proposed State Govern- 
ment. This, upon the following day, the House refused to pass, 
however, by a vote of twelve to five. An attempt was next 
made to procure a census of the Territory, and an act for that 
purpose, passed the House, but the council postponed the con- 
sideration of it until the next session, which was to commence 
at Cincinnati on the fourth Monday of the following Novem- 
ber.* 

Worthington, meantime, at Philadelphia, pursued the ends 
of his mission, and used his influence to effect that organiza- 
tion, " which, terminating the influence of tyranny," was to 
"meliorate the circumstances of thousands by freeing them from 
the domination of a despotic chief."J His efforts proved suc- 
cessful, and upon the 4th of March a report was made to the 
House in favor of authorizing a State Convention. This re- 
port went upon the basis that the Territory, by the United 
States' census made in 1800, contained more than forty-five 
thousand inhabitants, and as the Government since that time 
had sold half a million of acres, that the territory east of the 
Miami, supposing the past rate of increase to continue, would, 
by the time a State government could be formed, contain the 
sixty thousand persons contemplated by the ordinance ; and 
upon this basis proposed that a convention should be held, to 
determine, 1st, whether it were expedient to form a State Gov- 
ernment, and 2d, to prepare a Constitution, if such an organi- 
zation were deemed best.f In the formation of this State,, 
however, a change of boundaries was proposed, by which, inc 
accordance with the fifth article of the ordinance of 1787, allJ 
of the territory north of a line drawn due east from the head'; 
of Lake IMichigan to Lake Erie, was to be excluded from the- 
new government about to be called into existence. The re- 
port closed as follows : 

The committee observe, in the ordinance for ascertaining 
the mode of disposing of lands in the Western Territory, of the 

*Sec Journal of the Council, 53 and 78; and Journal of the House, 111, 115, 155. 

fSee his letter to Mr. Giles, chairman of the committee of Congress, February 13th, 1802^. 
(American State Papers, xx. 328.) See letter by him to James Finley, chairman, Feb.. 
ruary 12th, 1802. (American State Papers, xx. 329. 

lAmerican State Papers, xx. 326.) 

33 



522 P?-ovisions as to Lands in Ohio. 1802 

20th of May, 1785, the following section, which, so far as re- 
spects the subject of schools, remains unaltered : 

There shall be reserved for the United States out of every 
township, the four lots, being nun:ibered 8, 1 1, 26, 29 ; and out 
of every fractional part of a township so many lots of the same 
numbers as shall be found thereon for future sale. There 
shall be reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the 
maintenance of public schools within the said township; also, 
one-third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be 
sold, or otherwise disposed of as Congress shall hereafter di- 
rect. 

The committee also observe, in the third and fourth articles 
of the ordinance of the 13th July, 1787, the following stipula- 
tions, to wit: 

Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary 
to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and 
the means of education shall forever be encouraged, &c. 

Art. 4. The Legislatures of those districts or new States 
shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by 
the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regula- 
tions Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such 
soil to the bona Jide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on 
lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall 
non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. 

The committee, taking into consideration these stipulations, 
viewing the lands of the United States within the said terri- 
tory as an important source of revenue ; deeming it also of the 
highest importance to the stability and permanence of the 
union of the eastern and western parts of the United States, 
that the intercourse should, as far as possible, be facilitated, 
and their interests be liberally and mutually consulted and 
promoted, are of opinion that the provisions of the aforesaid 
articles may be varied for the reciprocal advantage of the 

United Stales and the State of when formed, and the 

people thereof; they have therefore deemed it proper, in lieu 
of the said provisions, to offer the following propositions to 
the convention of the eastern State of the said territoiy, when 
formed, for their free acceptance or rejection, without any con- 
dition or restraint whatever, which, if accepted by the conven- 
tion, shall be obligatory upon the United States : 

1st. That the section No. IG, in every township, sold or 
directed to be sold by the United States, shall be granted to 
the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools. 

2d. That the six miles reservation, including the salt 
springs, commonly called the Scioto salt springs, shall be 

granted to the State of when formed, for the use of 

the people thereof; the same to be used under such terms, 



1802 Lands sold by the United States to he free from Taxes. 523 

conditions, and regulations, as the Legislature of the said 
State shall direct: Provided, the said Legislature shall never 

sell nor lease the same for a longer term than years. 

3d. That one-tenth part of the nett proceeds of the lands 
lying in the said State, hereafter sold by Congress, after de- 
ducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to 
the laying out and making turnpike or other roads, leading 
from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the 

Ohio, and continued afterwards through the State of ; 

such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, 
with the consent of the several States through which the 
roads shall pass : Provided, that the convention of the State of 

shall, on its part, assent that every and each tract of land 

sold by Congress shall be and remain exempt from any tax 
laid by order and under authority of the State, whether for 
State, count}^ township, or any other purpose whatever, for 
the term of ten years, from and after the completion of the 
payment of the purchase money on such tract, to the United 
States.* 

In accordance with the recommendation of their commit- 
tee, Congress, upon the 30th of April, passed a law, carrying, 
with slight modifications, the view above given, into effect. f 
The provisions of this law were thought by many in the Ter- 
ritory unauthorized, but no opposition was offered to the ap- 
pointment of persons to attend the Convention, and the Leg- 
islature even gave way to the embryo Government, and 
failed to assemble according to adjournment. The Conven- 
tion met upon the 1st of November ; its members were gen- 
erally Jeffersonian in their national politics and had been 
opposed to the change of boundaries proposed the previous 
year. Before proceeding to business, Governor St. Clair pro- 
posed to address them, in his official character, as the chief 
executive magistrate of the territory. This proposition was 
resisted by several of the members; but after discussion, a 
motion was made, and adopted, by a majority of five, that, 
"Arthur St. Clair, sen., Esquire, be permitted to address the 
convention, on those points which he deems of importance." 

He advised the postponement of a State organization until 
the people of the original eastern division were plainly en- 
titled to demand it, and were not subject to be bound by con- 
ditions.J This advice, given as it was, caused Jefferson in- 

*American State Papers, xs. 326. 
•j"See this act in Chase, i. 70. 
JBurnet's Letters, 108, 111. 



524 Northern Boundary of Ohio. 1802 

stantly to remove St. Clair, but when the vote was taken upon 
doing that which he advised them not to do, but one of thirty- 
three, Ephraim Cutler of Washington, voted with the Gov- 
ernor.* 

On one point, the proposed boundaries of the new State 
were altered. 

To every person who has attended to this subject, and who 
has consulted the maps of the western country, extant at the 
time the ordinance of 1787 was passed, Lake Michigan 
was believed to be, and was represented by all the maps of 
that day, as being very far north of the position which it has 
since been ascertained to occupy. I have seen the map in the 
department of state, which was before the committee of Con- 
gress, who framed and reported the ordinance for the govern- 
ment of the territory. On that map, the southern boundary 
of Michigan, was represented as being above the forty-second 
degree of north latitude. And there was a pencil line, said to 
have been made by the committee, passing through the south- 
ern bend of the lake, to the Canada line, which struck the 
strait, not far below the town of Detroit. That line was mani- 
festly intended by the committee and by Congress, to be the 
northern boundary of our State ; and on the principles by 
which courts of chancery construe contracts, accompanied b}'' 
plats, it would seem that the map, and the line referred to, 
should be conclusive evidence of our boundary, without reler- 
ence to the real position of the lake. ^Yllcn the convention 
sat, in 1S02, the prevailing unflerstanding Mas, that the old 
maps were nearly correct, and that the line, as defined in the 
ordinance, would terminate at some point, on the strait, above 
the Maumee bay. While the convention was in session, a 
man who had hunted, many years, on lake Michigan, and was 
well acquainted with its position, happened to be in Chilli- 
cothc ; and in conversation with one of its members, told him, 
that the lake extended much further south than was generally 
supposed, and that a map of the country, which he had seen, 
placed its southern bend many miles north of its true position. 
This information excited some uneasiness, and induced the 
convention to modify the clause, describing the north boun- 
dary, so as to guard its being depressed below the most north- 
ern cape of the Maumee bay.f 

With this change, and some extension of the school and 
road donations, the convention agreed to the proposal of Con- 
gress, and upon the 29th of November, their agreement was 
ratified and signed, as was also the Constitution of the State 
of Ohio.J Of this Constitution wc shall .say nothing farther 

♦Burnet's Letters, 110. 

tHistorical transactions of Ohio, p. 115. 

JChase's Statutes, i. 74 is the Resolution of Novemher 29th. 



1802 Harrison treats with Indians. 525 

than that it bore in every provision the marks of democratic 
feeling ; of full faith in the people. By the people themselves, 
however, it was never examined ; but no opposition was of- 
fered to it, and a General Assembly was required to meet at 
Chillicothe on the first Tuesday of March, 1803. 

After the agreement by Congress to the Constitution of Ohio, 
and her admission into the Union, the Peninsula of Michigan 
was wholly within the territory of Indiana. 

On the 17th of September, 1802, Governor Harrison of In- 
diana Territory, at Vincennes, entered into an agreement with 
various chiefs of the Pottawatomie, Eel river, Piankeshaw, 
Wea, Kaskaskia and Kickapoo tribes, by which were settled 
the bounds of a tract of land near that place, said to have 
been given by the Indians to its founder ; and certain chiefs 
were named who were to conclude the matter at Fort Wayne. 
This was the first step taken by Harrison in those negotiations 
which continued through so many years, and added so much 
to the dominions of the Confederation. He found the natives 
jealous and out of temper, owing partly to American injus- 
tice, but also in a great degree, it was thought, to the arts of 
the British traders and agents.* 

In January of this year. Governor Harrison also communi- 
cated to the President the following letter, detailing some of 
the most curious land speculations of which we have any ac- 
count : 

The court established at this place, under the authority of 
the State of Virginia, in the year 1780, (as I have before done 
myself the honor to inform you,) assumed to themselves the 
right of granting lands to every applicant. Having exercised 
this power for some time without opposition, they began to 
conclude that their right over the land was supreme, and that 
they could with as much propriety grant to themselves as to 
others. Accordingly, an arrangement was made, by which 
the whole country to which the Indian title was supposed to 
be extinguished, was divided between the members of the 
court ; and orders to that effect entered on their Journal, each 
member absenting himself from the court on the day that the 
order was to be made in his favor, so that it might appear to 
be the act of his fellows only. The tract thus disposed of, ex- 
tends on the Wabash twenty-four leagues from La Pointe 
Coupee to the mouth of White River, and forty leagues into 
the country west, and thirty east from the Wabash, excluding 

^■'Dawioii's Harrison, 7 to 58. 



"26 Treaty with France for Louisinaa. 1803 

only the land immediately surrounding this town, which had 
before been granted to the amount of twenty or thirty thou- 
sand acres. 

The authors of this ridiculous transaction soon found that 
no advantage could be derived from it, as they could find no 
purchasers, and I believe that the idea of holding any part of 
the land was, by the greater part of them, abandoned a few 
years ago ; however, the claim was discovered, and a part of 
it purchased by some of those speculators who infest our coun- 
try, and through these people, a number of others in different 
parts of ihe United States have become concerned, some of 
whom are actually preparing to make settlements on the land 
the ensuing spring. Indeed, I should not be surprised to see 
five hundred families settling under these titles in the course 
of a year. The price at which the land is sold enables any 
body to beconie a purchaser ; one thousand acres being fre- 
quently given for an indifferent horse or a rifle gun. And as 
a formal deed is made reciting the grant of the court, (made, 
as it is pretended, under the authority of the State of Virginia,) 
many ignorant persons have been induced to part with their 
little all to obtain this ideal property, and they will no doubt 
endeavor to strengthen their claim, as soon as they have dis- 
covered the deception, by an actual settlement. The extent 
of these speculations was unknown to me until lately. I am 
now informed that a number of persons are in the habit of 
repairing to this place, where they purchase two or three 
hundred thousand acres of this claim, for which they get a 
deed properly authenticated and recorded, and then disperse 
themselves over the United States, to cheat the ignorant and 
credulous. In some measure, to check this practice, I have 
forbidden the recorder and prothonotary of this county from 
recording or authenticating any of these papers; being de- 
termined that the official seals of the Territory should not be 
prostituted to a purpose so base as that of a.ssisting an infa- 
mous fraud.* WM. H. HARRISON. 

To Jas. Madison, Scc'y. of State. 

During the ses.sion of 1802, the Legislature of Kentucky 
chartered an " Insurance Company," whose notes payable to 
bearer were to be transferred or assigned by delivery ; this 
feature made the institution a Bank of circulation, and such 
it became. f 

Upon the 11th of January, Mr. Jefferson sent a message to 
the Senate nominating Robert R. Livingston and James Mon- 
roe ministers at the Court of France, and Charles Pinckney 
and James Monroe at that of Spain, with full power to form 

* American State Papers, xvi. 123. 
tMarshall, ii. 348. 



1793. Treaty with France for Louisiana. 527 

treaties for "enlarging and more effectually securing our rights 
and interests in the river Mississippi, and in the territories 
eastward thereof."* This was done in consequence of the or- 
der by Morales taking from the Americans the use of New 
Orleans as a place of deposit; and the knowledge of the 
Government of the United States, that in some form a treaty 
had been made by which Spain had transferred her interest in 
Louisiana to France. 

The secretf treaty of St. Ildefonso had been formed on the 
1st of October, 1800 ; on the 29th of the next March, Rufus 
King, then Minister in London, wrote home in relation to a 
reported cession of Louisiana, and its influence on the United 
States ij on the 9th of June, 1801, Mr. Pinckney, at Madrid* 
was instructed in relation to the alleged transfer, and upon 
the 28th of September, Mr. Livingston, at Paris, was written 
to upon the same topic. On the 20th of November, Mr. King 
sent from London a copy of the treaty signed at Madrid, 
March 21, 1801, by which the Prince of Parma, (son-in-law 
of the King of Spain,) was established in Tuscany ; this had 
been the consideration for the grant of Louisiana to France 
in the previous autumn, and that grant was now confirmed. 
From that time till July 1802, a constant correspondence went 
on between the American Secretary of State and the Mini.s- 
ters at Paris, London, and Madrid, relative to the important 
question. What can be done to secure the interests of the 
Union in relation to the Mississippi? Mr. Livingston, in 
France, was of opinion that a cession of New Orleans might 
possibly be obtained from that power ; and to obtain it he 
advised the payment of " a large price" if required. Mr. 
Livingston at the same time wrote and laid before the French 
leaders an elaborate memoir, intended to show that true pol- 
icy required France not to retain Louisiana, but when, on the 
last of August, he again made propositions, Talleyrand told 
him that the First Consul was not ready to receive them. 
Still the sagacious Ambassador felt " persuaded that the whole 
would end in a relinquishment of the country, and transfer of 
the Capital to the United States ;" and pursued his labors in 

* American State Papers, ii. 475. 

f In regard to the secresy practised, see Mr. LiriDgston's letters, Ameiican State Papers, 
ii 512, 513. 
X American State Papers, ii. 509. 



b28 Proposed cession of New Orleans. 1803 

hope ; — asking from his Government only explicit instructions 
as to how much he might offer France for the Floridas, 
which it was supposed she would soon get from Spain, and 
also for New Orleans. His views were acquiesced in by the 
President, and Mr. Monroe went out in March, 1803, bearing 
instructions, the object of which was " to procure a cession of 
New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States." All 
idea of purchasing Louisiana west of the Mississippi, was 
thus far disclaimed by Mr. Livingston, in October, 1802, and 
by Mr. Jefferson in January, 1803. Upon the 10th of the lat- 
ter month, however, Mr. Livingston proposed to the Minister 
of Napoleon to cede to the United States not only New Or- 
leans and Florida, but also all of Louisiana above the River 
Arkansas. But such were not the views entertained in the 
Cabinet of the United vStates, and upon the 2d of March the 
instructions sent to Messrs. Livingston and Monroe, gave a 
plan which expressly left to France " all her territory on the 
west side of the Mississippi.* In conformity with these or- 
ders, when Talleyrand, on the 11th of the next month, asked 
Livingston if he wished all of Louisiana, he answered tiiat 
his Government desired only New Orleans and Florida, 
though'in his opinion, good policy would lead France to cede 
all west of the Mississippi above the Arkansas, so as to place 
a barrier between her own Colony and Canada. Talleyrand 
still suggested the cession of the whole French domain in 
North America, and asked how much would be given for it ; 
Mr. Livingston intimated that twenty millions (of francs,) 
might be a fair price ; this the Minister of Bonaparte said 
was too low, but asked the American to think of the matter. 
He did think of it, and this thought was that the purchase of 
Louisiana entire was too large an object for the L^nited States, 
and that, if acquired, it ought to be exchanged with Spain for 
the Floridas, reserving only New Orleans. On the 12th of 
April Mr. Monroe reached Paris, and upon the 13th the Minis- 
ter of the Treasury, Marbois, who was a personal friend of 
Livingston, had with him a long conversation, from which it 
appeared that Napoleon, then about to renew his wars with 
England, wished to sell Louisiana entire, and that the only 
question was as to price. Bonaparte had named what 
equalled 125 millions of francs, but to this the Republicans 

* For the documents on this subject, see Aonerican State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 525 to 544. 



1803. Bargain and purchase of Louisiana. 629 

turned a deaf ear, offering only 40 or 50 millions. In a 
short time, however, a compromise took place, and the Amer- 
ican negotiators, going entirely beyond the letter of their in- 
structions, agreed to pay 80 millions of francs for the vast 
territory upon and beyond the river first navigated by Mar- 
quette : — the treaty was arranged upon the 30th of the month 
in which the purchase had first been suggested. This act of 
the Ministers, though unauthorized and unexpected, was at 
once agreed to by the President. Congress was summoned to 
meet upon the 17th of October, and on that day the treaty 
was laid before the Senate : by the 21st the transfer was 
ratified, and upon the 20th of the following December, the 
Province of Louisiana was officially delivered over to Gov- 
ernor Claiborne of Mississippi, and General Wilkinson, who 
were empowered to assume the Government. 

To this transfer of Louisiana, Spain at first objected, as she 
alleged " on solid grounds," but early in 1804 renounced her 
opposition.* 

From what has been said it will be seen, that Mr. Jefferson 
had no agency in the purchase of Louisiana beyond the ap- 
proval of the unlooked-for act of his Ministers in France. If 
any person deserves to be remembered in connection with 
that great bargain, it was Mr. Livingston, whose efforts were 
constant and effectual. An account of them may be found in 
his letters, read in the following order: 1st, that of May 12, 
1802, (American State papers, ii. 557;) 2d, that of December 
30, 1801, (do. 512;) and after that in the order of dates and 
arrangement. The person through whom Mr. Livingston ob- 
tained the ear of Napoleon was Joseph Bonaparte. 

[It is here proper, in as few words as possible, to explain the 
circumstances which surrounded Napoleon as First Consul, 
and the motives by which he was influenced in the sale of 
Louisiana. These may be found in detail, with many other 
original facts, in the " History of Louisiana," by INI. de Barbe 
Marbois, a translation of which, was published in Philadel- 
phia in 1830. M. Marbois had been for some time a member 
of the cabinet, and minister of the Public Treasury, and he 

* For the various documents see American State Papers, ii. 552, 653, 557 to 560, 566, 
572, 581 to 583. For the treaty see pp. 507 to 508, Laws of Missouri, 1842, i. 1 to 4.— 
Marbois Louisiana, Appendix, 403 to 412. For the objections of Spain, see Americaa 
State Papers, ii. 567 to 572, and 683. 



530 Motives for the Sale of Louisiana. 1803. 

held this post during the negotiations for the cession of Lou- 
isiana, was confidential Secretary of Napoleon, and to him 
was confided the whole transactions, as the plenipotentiary on 
the part of the French republic. His pen drew up the 
treaty. 

The crisis was an alarming one to France. The Court of 
St. James had learned the purport of the secret treaty of St. 
Ildefonso, by which Louisiana had been re-ceded to France. 
The latter government had its fleet fitted out ostensibly, for 
America. The King of England became alarmed, and in 
quick succession sent messages to Parliament, and prompt 
action was taken to fit out the navy. Napoleon dreaded the 
maritime power of England. To Marbois he said : — 

" The principles of a maritime supremacy are subversive 
of one of the noblest rights that nature, science, and genius 
have secured to man ; I mean the right of traversing every sea 
with as much liberty as the bird flies through the air ; of mak- 
ing use of the waves, winds, climates, and productions of the 
globe ; of bringing near to one another, by a bold navigation, 
nations that have been separated, since the creation ; of car- 
rying civilization into regions that are a prey to ignorance 
and barbarism."* 

The discussions in the French Cabinet continued at inter- 
vals for several days. Mr. Livingston was the American 
minister to the French Republic, and for two years had been 
negotiating for indemnity for maritime spoliations. Mr. Mon- 
roe was on his way thither, with instructions to secure the 
navigation of the Mississippi, and even to purchase New 
Orleans and some small part of the vast territory of Louisi- 
ana. Napoleon wanted money, and he foresaw the proba- 
bility that this province would fall into the hands of England, 
and that a sale of the whole country to the United States, 
would add to its national greatness and make this govern- 
ment a formidable rival of Great Britain. After the close 
of the conference with his counsellors. Napoleon said to 
Marbois : — 

" Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season ; I 
renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will 
cede; it is the whole country without any reservation." 



* Marboia LouUiana, p. 25S. 



1803. Views of Napoleon Bonaparte. 631 

" If I should regulate my terms, according to the value of 
these vast regions to the United States, the indemnity would 
have no limits. I will be moderate, in consideration of the 
necessity in which I am of making a sale. But keep this to 
yourself. I want fifty millions, [of francs] and for less than 
that sum I will not treat ; 1 would rather make a desperate 
attempt to keep these fine countries. To-morrow you shall 
have full powers." ******* 

" Perhaps it will also be objected to me, that the Americans 
may be found too powerful for Europe in two or three centu- 
ries ; but my foresight does not embrace such remote fears. 
Besides, we may hereafter expect rivalries among the mem- 
bers of the Union. The confederations, that are called per- 
petual, only last until one of the contracting parties finds it 
to its interest to break them, and it is to prevent the danger, 
to which the coUosal power of England exposes us, that I 
would provide a remedy." 

The Minister (Barbois, who gives this conversation) made 
no reply. The First Consul continued : — 

" Mr. Monroe is on the point of arriving. To this minister 
going two thousand leagues from his constituents, the Presi- 
dent must have given, after defining the object of his mission, 
secret instructions, more extensive than the ostensible author- 
ization of Congress, for the stipulation of the payments to be 
made. 

" Neither this minister nor his colleague is prepared for a 
decision which goes infinitely beyond anything that they are 
to ask of us. Begin by making them the overture, without 
any subterfuge. You will acquaint me, day by day, hour by 
hour, of your progress. The Cabinet of London is informed 
of the measures adopted at Washington, but can have no 
suspicion of those which I am now taking. Observe the 
greatest secresy, and recommend it to the American minis- 
ters ; they have not a less interest than yourself in confjrm- 
ing to this council."* 

The conferences began the same day between Mr. Living- 
ston and M. Barbe Marbois, to whom the First Consul con- 
fided the negotiation. The American minister had not the 
necessary powers, and he had become distrustful of the French 
cabinet. Such an offer as the sale of the whole of Louisiana, 
came so unexpected, and being ignorant of course, as he was, 
of the motives and views of Napoleon, he suspected artifice. 
Mr. Monroe arrived on the 12th of April, with more extensive 
powers, but heard with surprise and distrust the offer of the 
French ambassador. The historian says : 

* Marbois' History of Louisiana, pp. 260, 280. 



532 The Negotiation completed. 1803. 

"As soon as the negotiation was entered on, the American 
ministers declared they were ready to treat on the footing of 
the cession of the entire colony, and they did not hesitate to 
take on themselves the responsibility of augmenting the sum 
that they had been authorized to offer. The draft of the prin- 
cipal treaty was communicated to them. They prepared 
another one, but consented to adopt provisionally, as the basis 
of their conferences, that of the French negotiator, and they 
easily agreed to the declaration contained in the first article." 

The negotiations being finished, the treaty for the sale and 
purchase of Louisiana, was completed on the 30th of April, 
and signed on the 3d of May. The intelligence of this ne- 
gotiation was not less astounding to the people of the United 
States, than the proposition to sell the whole country by Mar- 
bois, was to Messrs. Livingston and Monroe. The Federal 
party rallied to defeat it ; Mr. Jefferson and the plenipoten- 
tiaries were assailed in their public journals, and, as is com- 
mon, under high party excitement, extravagant tales were 
told on both sides. Yet, as the prominent actors have passed 
away, and the transaction is now viewed in the perspective of 
history, the purchase and possession has long been regarded 
as one of the most valuable and splendid achievements ever 
acquired by this nation. 

The following words from Napoleon, after the conclusion oi 
the treaty, give us insight to his reflections : 

To Marbois, he said : 

"This accession of territory, strengthens forever the power 
of the United States ; and I have just given to England a 
maritime rival, that will sooner or later humble her pride."* 

The English ministry, when they were informed of the 
mission of Mr. Monroe to France, and its object, made a 
proposition to Rufus King, the American envoy at London, to 
undertake the conquest of Louisiana, with the concurrence of 
the L^nited States, and retrocede it to our government, as soon 
as peace should be made with France. But it appears, the 
British ministry had no knowledge of the nature and extent 
of the negotiations at Paris, until they were concluded. The 
result was communicated without delay, and jNIr. King receiv- 
ed a satisfactory answer from Lord Hawkesbury, respecting 
the cession. 

The treaty was forwarded to Washington, with as much 
despatch as possible, where it arrived on the 14th of July. 

» Marbois, 312. 



1803. Another Difficulty ivith Spain. 533 

And now, another difficulty arose with Spain. The Span- 
ish minister, having received orders from his government, 
made a solemn protest against the ratification of the treaty, 
alledging that France had contracted with Spain not to retro- 
cede the province to any other power. 

The Federalists, who opposed the treaty, imputed to France 
a disgraceful deception ; that there was a secret concert, and 
that Spain was acting under the influence of that government. 
Amidst a series of complicated embarrassments, Mr. Jefferson 
convened Congress, which met on the 17th of October, and 
laid the treaties (for there were three separate documents) be- 
fore the Senate. Both the nature of the contract, and the 
magnitude of the sum, opened a wide field of debate. 

The opposers of the treaty, contended that Congress had no 
power to annex by treaty new territories to the confederacy ; 
as that right could only belong to the whole people of the 
United States. But after a free debate, the Senate ratified the 
treaties on the 20th day of October, by a majority of twenty- 
four votes against seven, to which the President gave his sanc- 
tion the next day. All the documents were communicated to 
the House of Representatives, and after a short debate the 
necessary law to create the stock, and carry out the treaty, 
was passed without any formidable opposition. 

The next step was to make the regular transfer from Spain 
to France and from France to the United States, for the secret 
treaty of St. Ildefonso had not been carried into effect in Lou- 
isiana. 

M. Laussat had been appointed the Plenipotentiary of the 
French republic, and on the 30th of November he met the 
Spanish Commissioners in the Council Chamber at New Or- 
leans, received in due form the keys of the city, and issued a 
proclamation to the Louisianians, informing them of the re- 
trocession of the country to France, and by that government 
to the United States. At a signal, given by the firing of can- 
non, the Spanish flag was lowered and the French hoisted. 

The French sovereignty lasted only twenty days, during 
which M. Laussat, as Governor General, provided for the 
administration of justice only in summary and urgent matters. 

General Wilkinson, having command of the United States 
troops, established his camp on the 19th of December, a short 
distance above New Orleans ; at the same time the Spanish 



534 Transfer to the United States. 1803 

troops embarked and sailed for Havana. The next day, dis- 
charges of artillery from the forts and vessels announced the 
farewell of the French officers. On the 20lh, M. Laussat, 
with a numerous retinue went to the City Hall, while by pre- 
vious arrangement, the American troops entered the capital. 
General Wilkinson and Governor Claiborne, American Com- 
missioners, were received in due form in the Hall. 

The treaty of cession, the respective powers of the Com- 
missioners, and the certificate of exchange of ratifications, 
were read. M. Laussat then pronounced these words : — 

" In conformity with the treaty, I put the United States in 
possession of Louisiana and its dependencies. The citizens 
ami inhabitants who wish to remain here and obey the laws, 
are from this moment exonerated from the oath of fidelity to 
the French republic." 

Mr. Claiborne, the Governor of the territory of Mississippi, 
exercising the power of Governor General and Intendent of 
the Province of Louisiana, delivered a congratulatory discourse 
to the Louisianians. 

" This cession," said he, " secures to you and your descend- 
ants the inheritance of liberty, perpetual laws, and magis- 
trates, whom you will elect yourselves." 

The ceremonies closed with the exchange of flags, which 
was done by lowering the one and raising the other. When 
they met midway, they were kept stationary for a moment, 
while the artillery and trumpets celebrated the Union. The 
American flag then rose to its full height, and while it waived 
in the air the Americans expressed their joy in a tremendous 
shout.* 

The American Government went into operation quietly, 
and the French and Spanish population soon became accus- 
tomed to the new order of things, and after a lapse of 
forty-six years no distinction appears, except in family names. 

Thus, in a persevering effort to gain the free navigation of 
the Mississippi, and the port of New Orleans, by an unexpect- 
ed and fortuitous train of circumstances, the United States 
gained the immense territories of Louisiana and extended her 
boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. 

We now return, to bring up a series of events pertaining to 
1803, in the State of Ohio, and territory of Indiana. 

• Marbois' Histoiy, 320, 335. 



1083. Affairs in Indiana and Ohio. 535 

During the month of June, certain Indian chiefs, agreeable 
to their promise made at Vincennes the preceding year, met 
at Fort Wayne, and transferred to Governor Harrison the 
lands claimed by the United States about Post Vincennes, and 
their act was confirmed at Vincennes, on the 7th of August, 
by various chiefs and warriors. On the 13th of August, the 
Illinois tribes, including the Kaskaskias, Michiganies, Caho- 
kias and Tamarois, made a conveyance to the United States, 
their right to a large portion of the Illinois country south of 
the Illinois river.* 

Upon the 15th of April, the House of Representatives of 
the new State of Ohio, signed a bill respecting a College 
Township in the District of Cincinnati. The history of this 
township is somewhat curious, and we give it in the words of 
Judge Burnet. 

" The ordinance adopted by Congress, for the disposal of 
the public domain, did not authorize a grant of college land, 
to the purchasers, of less than two millions of acres. The 
original proposition of Mr. Symmes being for that quantity, 
entitled him to the benefit of such a grant. It was his inten- 
tion, no doubt, to close his contract, in conformity with his 
proposal. He therefore stated, in his printed publication, be- 
fore referred to, that a college township had been given; and 
he described his situation to be, as nearly opposite the mouth 
of Licking river, as an entire township could be found, eligi- 
ble in point of soil and situation. He also selected in good 
faith, one of the best townships in the purchase, answering 
the description, and marked it on his map, as the college town- 
ship. The township thus selected, was the third of the first 
entire range on which the town of Springdale now stands. — 
The tract was reserved from sale, and retained for the intend- 
ed purpose : until Mr. Symmes ascertained, that his agents 
had relinquished one half of his proposed purchase, by clos- 
ing a contract for one million of acres, by which his right to 
college lands was abandoned, and of course not provided for 
in the contract. He then, very properly, erased the endorse- 
ment from the map, and offered the townsliip for sale, and as 
it was one of the best, and most desirable portions of his pur- 
chase, it was rapidly located. The matter remained in this 
situation, till the application in 1792, to change the bounda- 
ries of the purchase, and to grant a patent for as much land 
as his means would enable him to pay for. When the bill for 
that purpose was under consideration. General Dayton, the 
agent, and one of the associates of Mr. Symmes, being then 
an influential member of the House of Representatives, pro- 
posed a section, authorising the President to convey to Mr. 

* American State Papers, v. 687, 688. 



536 Affairs in Indiana and Ohio. 1083. 

Symmes and his associates, one entire township in trust, for 
the purpose of establishing an academy, and other schools of 
learning, conformably to an order of Congress, of the 2nd of 
October, 1787. The fact was, that the right, under the order 
referred to, had been lost, by the relinquishment of half the 
proposed purchase, in consequence of which the contract con- 
tained no stipulation for such a grant. Notwithstanding, from 
some cause, either want of correct information, or a willing- 
ness then, to make the gratuity, — most probably the latter — 
the section was adopted and became a part of the law\ At 
that time there was not an entire township in the purchase, 
undisposed of Large quantities of all of them, had been 
sold by Mr. tSymmes, after his right to college lands had been 
lost, by the conduct of his agents, Dayton and Marsh, It was 
not, therefore, in his power to make the appropriation requir- 
ed by the act of Congress, though in arranging his payment 
at the treasury, he was credited with the price of the town- 
ship. The matter remained in that situation, till about the 
time the legislature was elected, under the second grade of the 
territorial government, in 1799. Mr. Symmes then feeling the 
embarrassment of his situation, and aware that the subject 
would be taken up by the legislature, made a written propo- 
sition to the governor, offering the second township of the se- 
cond fractional range, for the purposes of a college. On ex- 
amination, the governor found, that he had sold an undivided 
moiety of that township, for a valuable consideration, in 1788; 
that the purchaser had obtained a decree in the circuit court 
of Pennsylvania, for a specific execution of the contract; and 
that he had also sold several smaller portions of the same 
township to others, who then held contracts for same. As a 
matter of course, the township was refused, lie then appeal- 
ed from the decision of the governor, to the territorial legisla- 
ture. They also refused to receive it, for the same reasons 
which had been assigned by the governor. A similar refusal 
was afterward made, for the same reason, by the state legisla- 
ture; to whom it was again offered. I had the charity to be- 
lieve, that when Mr. Symmes first proposed the township, to 
the governor, it was his intention to buy up the claims against 
it, which he probably might have done at that time, on fair 
and moderate terms ; but he omitted to do so, till that ar- 
rangement became impracticable, and until his embarrass- 
ments, produced by the refusal of Congress to confirm his con- 
tract for the land he had sold out of his patent, rendered it 
impossible for him, to make any remuneration to government, 
or the intended beneficiaries of the grant. The delegates re- 
presenting the territory in Congress, were instructed, from 
time to time, to exert their inHuence to induce the government 
in some form, to secure the grant to the people of the Miami 
purchase. But nothing effectual was accomplished, till the 



1803. Transfer of Upper Louisiana. 537 

establishment of the state government in 1803 ; when a law 
was passed by Congress vesting in the legislature of Ohio, a 
quantity of land equal to one entire township, to be located 
under their direction, for the purpose of establishing an acade- 
my, in lieu of the township already granted, for the same 
purpose, by virtue of the act, entitled " an act authorising 
the grant and conveyance of certain lands, to John C. Symmes 
and his associates." Under the authority of an act of the 
Ohio legislature, passed in April, 1803, Jacob White, Jere- 
miah Morrow, and William Ludlow, made a location of these 
lands, amounting to thirty-six sections, as they are now held 
by the Miami University. In consequence of the early sales, 
by Judge Symmes, these lands were necessarily located west 
of the Great Miami river; and consequently without the limit 
of Symmes' purchase.* 

[One of the prominent events of 1804, was the ceremony 
of the transfer of Upper Louisiana, at St. Louis, on the 9th 
and 10th of March. 

Amos Stoddard, a captain of artillery in the service of the 
United States, and to whom we are indebted for an admira- 
ble historical sketch of Louisiana, was constituted the agent 
of the French republic, for receiving from the Spanish author- 
ities, the possession of Upper Louisiana. 

He arrived at St. Louis early in March, and on the 9th day, 
received in di^ form possession of the province in the name 
of the French republic, and the next day made the transfer to- 
the United States government, which he represented. 

Mr. Primm says : — 

" When the transfer was completely effected — when in th« 
presence of the assembled population, the flag of the United 
States had replaced that of Spain — the tears and lamenta- 
tions of the ancient inhabitants, proved how much they were 
attached to the old government, and how much they dreaded 
the change which the treaty of cession had brought about."f 

Congress, on the 20th of March, divided Louisiana into 
two territories. The southern province was denominated the 
territory of Orleans ; the northern was called Upper Louisi- 
ana. Captain Stoddard was appointed temporarily the Gov- 
ernor, with all the powers and prerogatives of the Spanish 
Lieutenant Governor in Upper Louisiana. 

*See Chase's Statutes,!. 72; — American Pioneer, i. 269; — Historical Transactions of 
Ohio, i. 152-155. 

tDisc ourse at the Celebration, February 15, 1847. 

34 



638 St. Louis in 1804. 1804. 

In his sketches of Louisiana, Major Stoddard, (for that was 
soon his title) says : — 

" St. Louis has two long streets, running parallel to the 
river, with a variety of others intersecting them at right an- 
gles. It contains about one hundred and eighty houses, and 
the best of them are built of stone. Some of them include 
large gardens, and even squares, attached to them, are en- 
closed with high stone walls ; and these, together with the 
rock scattered along the shore and about the streets, render 
the air uncomfortably warm in summer. A small sloping 
hill extends along in the rear of the town, on the summit of 
which is a garrison, and behind it an extensive prairie, which 
affords plenty of hay, as also pasture for the cattle and horses 
of the inhabitants."* 

Mr. Primm says, 

" This statement is only partially correct, for the street now 
called Third street then existed, and was known as, " La Rue 
des Granges," the street of the barns. And in the common par- 
lance of the country. First [or Main] street bore the appella- 
tion of " La Rue principale," the principal street ; and Second 
street that of " La Rue de L'Eglise," the street of the Church, 
from the fact that the only church building in the town front- 
ed on that street. 

" This was a structure of hewn logs, planted upright in the 
ground, and covered with a roof, the eaves of Mhich pro- 
jected beyond the body of the building, and formed a kind of 
gallery or promenade around it.f 

On entering upon the office, Major Stoddard published the 
following address to the inhabitants of Upper Louisiana : 

*' The period has now arrived, when, in consequence of 
amicable negotiations, Louisiana is in the possession of the 
United States. The plan of a permanent territorial govern- 
ment for you, is already under the consideration of Congress, 
and will doubtless be completed as soon as the importance of 
the measure will admit. But in the meantime, to secure your 
rights, and prevent a delay of justice, his excellency William 
C. C. Claiborne, governor of the Mississippi territory, is in- 
vested with those authorities and powers (derived from an act 
of Congress) usually exercised by the governor and intendant 
general under his Catholic Majesty ; and permit me to add 
that, by virtue of the authority and power vested in him by 
the President of the United States, he has been pleased to 
commission me as first civil commander of Upper Louisiana. 

* Btoddard'g Sketches, p. 218, 219. 
t Diacoorse, 12. 



1804. Address of Major Stoddard. 539 

" Directed to cultivate friendship and harmony among you, 
and to make known the sentiments of the United States rela- 
tive to the security and preservation of all your rights, both 
civil and religious, I know of no mode better calculated to 
begin the salutary work, than a circular address. 

" It will not be necessary to advert to the various prelimi- 
nary arrangements which have conspired to place you in your 
present political situation ; with these it is presumed you are 
already acquainted. Suffice it to observe, that Spain in 1800, 
and in 1801, retroceded the colony and province of Louisiana 
to France ; and that France in 1803, conveyed the same ter- 
ritory to the United States, who are now in the peaceable and 
legal possession of it. These transfers were made with hon- 
orable views, and under such forms and sanctions as are usu- 
ally practised among civilized nations. 

" Thus you will perceive, that you are divested of the char- 
acter of subjects, and clothed with that of citizens. You 
now form an integral part of a great community, the powers 
of whose government are circumscribed and defined by char- 
ter, and the liberty of the citizen extended and secured. Be- 
tween this government and its citizens, many reciprocal du- 
ties exist, and the prompt and regular performance of them is 
necessary to the safety and welfare of the whole. No one 
can plead exemption from these duties; they are equally ob- 
ligatory on the rich and the poor; on men in power, as well 
as on those not intrusted with it. They are not prescribed as 
whim and caprice may dictate ; on the contrary, they result 
from the actual or implied compact between society and its 
members, and are founded not only on the sober lessons of 
experience, but in the immutable nature of things. U, there- 
fore, the government be bound to protect its citizens in the 
enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion, the citizens 
are no less bound to obey the laws, and to aid the magis- 
trate in the execution of them ; to repel invasion, and in 
periods of public danger, to yield a portion of their time 
and exertions in defence of public liberty. In governments 
differently constituted, where popular elections are unknown^ 
and where the exercise of power is confided to those of high 
birth, and great wealth, the public defence is committed to 
men who make the science of war an exclusive trade and 
profession ; but in all free republics, where the citizens are 
capacitated to elect, and to be elected, into offices of emol- 
ument and dignity, permanent armies of any considerable 
extent are justly deemed hostile to liberty ; and therefore the 
militia is considered as the palladium of their safety. Hence 
the origin of this maxim, that every soldier is a citizen, and 
every citizen a soldier. 

" With these general principles before you, it is confidently 



540 Address of Major Stoddard. 1804. 

expected, that you will not be less faithful to the United 
States, than you have been to his Catholic majesty. 

" Your local situation, the varieties in your language and 
education, have contributed to render your manners, laws, 
and customs, and even your prejudices, somewhat different 
from those of your neighbors, but not less favorable to virtue, 
and to good order in society. These deserve something more 
than mere indulgence ; they shall be respected. 

" If, in the course of former time, the people on different 
sides of the Mississippi, fostered national prejudices and anti- 
pathies against each other, suffer not these cankers of human 
happiness any longer to disturb your repose, or to awaken 
your resentment ; draw the veil of oblivion over the past, 
and unite in pleasing anticipations of the future ; embrace 
each other as brethren of the same mighty family, and think 
not, that any member of it can derive happiness from the 
misery or degradation of another. 

" Little will the authority and example of the best magis- 
trates avail, when the public mind becomes tainted with per- 
verse sentiments, or languishes under an indifference to its 
true interests. Suffer not the pride of virtue, nor the holy 
fire of religion, to become extinct. If these be different in 
their nature, they are necessary supports to each ohter. 
Cherish the sentiments of order and tranquility, and frown on 
the disturbers of the public peace. Avoid as much as possi- 
ble all legal contests ; banish village vexation, and unite in 
the cultivation of the social and moral affections. 

" Admitted as you are into the embraces of a wise and mag- 
nanimous nation, patriotism will gradually \varmyour lireasts, 
and stamp its features on your future actions. To be useful, 
it must be enlightened ; not the effect of passion, local preju- 
dice, or blind impulse. Happy the people who possess inval- 
uable rights, and know how to exorcise them to the best ad- 
vantage ; wretched arc those who do not think and act freely. 
It is a sure test of wisdom to honor and support the govern- 
ment under which you live, and to acquiesce in the decisions 
of the public will, when they be constitutionally expressed. 
Confide, therefore, in the justice and integrity of our federal 
president ; he is the faithful guardian of the laws; he enter- 
tains the most beneficent views relative to the glory and hap- 
piness of this territory; and the merit derived from the ac- 
quisition of Louisiana, without any other, will perpetuate his 
fame to posterity. Place equal confidence in all the other 
constituted authorities of the Union. They will protect your 
rights, and indeed your feelings, and all the tender felicitieg 
and sympathies, so dear to rational and intelligent creatures. 
A very short experience of their equitable and pacific policy, 
will enable you to view them in their proper light. I flatter 
myself that you will give their measures a fair trial, and not 
precipitate yourselves into conclusions, which you may after- 



1804. Address of Major Stoddard. 541 

wards see cause to retract. The first official acts of my pres- 
ent station, authorized by high authority, will confirm these 
remarks. 

" The United States, in the acquisition of Louisiana, were 
actuated by just and liberal views. Hence the admission of 
an article in the treaty of cession, the substance of which is, 
that the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorpo- 
rated into the Union, and admitted as soon as possible to the 
enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and immunities of 
citizens of the United States : and, in the meantime, be main- 
tained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, 
property and religion. 

" From these cursory hints you will be enabled to compre- 
hend your present political situation, and to anticipate the 
future destinies of your country. You may soon expect the 
establishment of a territorial government, administered by 
men of wisdom and integrity, whose salaries will be paid out 
of the treasury of the United States. From your present 
population, and the rapidity of its increase, this territorial 
establishment must soon be succeeded by your admission as a 
State into the Federal Union. At that period, you will be at 
liberty to try an experiment in legislation, and to frame such 
a government as may best comport with your local interests, 
manners, and customs ; popular suffrage will be its basis. The 
enaction of laws, and the appointment of judges to expound 
them, and to carry them into efl'ect, are among the first privi- 
leges of organized society. Equal to these, indeed, and con- 
nected wdth them, is the inestimable right of trial by jury. 
The forms of judicial processes, and the rules for the admis- 
sion of testimony in courts of justice, when firmly established, 
are of great and obvious advantage to the people. It is also 
of importance, that a distinction be made between trials of a 
capital nature, and those of an inferior degree, as like- 
wise between all criminal and civil contestations. In fine. 
Upper Louisiana, from its climate, population, soil, and pro- 
ductions, and from other natural advantages attached to it, 
wall, in all human probability, soon become a star of no in- 
considerable magnitude in the American constellation. 

"Be assured that the United States feel all the ardor for your 
interests, which a warm attachment can inspire. I have rea- 
son to believe that it will be among some of their first objects, 
to ascertain and confirm your land titles. They well know 
the deranged state of these titles and of the existence of a 
multitude of equitable claims under legal surveys, where 
no grants or concessions have been procured. What ultimate 
measures will be taken on this subject, does not become me 
to conjecture ; but thus much I \vill venture to affirm, that the 
most ample justice will be done ; and that, in the final adjust- 
ment of claims, no settler or landholder, will have any just 
cause to complain. Claimants of this description have hith- 



542 Population of Upper Louisiana. 1804 

erto invariably experienced the liberality of government ; and 
surely it will not be less liberal to the citizens of Upper 
Louisiana, who form a strong cordon across an exposed fron- 
tier of a vast empire, and are entitled by solemn stipluations 
to all the rights and immunities of freemen. 

" My duty, not more indeed than my inclination, urges me 
to cultivate friendship and harmony among you, and between 
you and the United States. I suspect my talents to be une- 
qual to the duties which devolve on me in the organization 
and temporary administration of the government; the want 
of a proper knowledge of your laws and language, is among 
the difficulties 1 have to encounter. But my ambition and 
exertions bear some proportion to the honor confered on me ; 
and the heavy responsibility attached to my office, admonishes 
me to be prudent and circumspect. Inflexible justice and im- 
partiality shall guide me in all my determinations. If, how- 
ever, in the discharge of a variety of complicated duties, al- 
most wholly prescribed by the civil law. and the code of the 
Indies, I be led into error, consider it as involuntary, and not 
as the effect of inattention, or of any exclusive favors or affec- 
tions. Destined to be the temporary guardian of the rights 
and liberties of at least ten thousand people, I may not be 
able to gratify the just expectations of all ; but your prosperity 
and happiness will claim all my time and talents ; and no 
earthly enjoyment could be more complete, than that derived 
from your public and individual security, and from the increase 
of your opulence and power." 

Upper Louisiana, included all that part of the ancient 
province which lay north of a spot on the Mississippi, called 
" Hope Encampment," nearly opposite the Chickasaw^ bluffs : 
including the territory now within the jurisdiction of the 
States of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, a large part of the terri- 
tory of Minnesota, and all the vast regions of the west, far 
as the Pacific Ocean, south of the forty-ninth degree of north 
latitude, not claimed by Spain. 

The civilized population of this territory is given by Major 
Stoddard, with as much accuracy as the nature of the case ad- 
mitted. The settled portions had been divided into " Districts," 
for purposes of local government. The population in 1803, 
in the settlements of Arkansas, Little Prairie and New Mad- 
rid, was estimated on such data as could be obtained, at one 
thousand three hundred and fifty ; of which about two-thirds 
were Anglo-Americans, and the other third French. 

The District of Cape Girardeau, included the territory be- 
tween Tywappaty bottom and Apple creek — population in 
1804, one thousand four hundred and seventy whites, and a 



1804. Popv2ation of Upper Louisiana. 643 

few slaves. Excepting three or four families, all were emi- 
grants from the United States. 

The District of Ste. Genevieve extended from Apple creek 
to the Merrimac. The settlements, (besides the village of Ste. 
Genevieve) included settlements on the head waters of the 
St. Francois and the lead mines. Population in 1804, two 
thousand three hundred and fifty whites, and five hundred and 
twenty slaves. More than half were Anglo-Americans. 

The District of St. Louis, included the territory lying be- 
tween the Merrimac and Missouri rivers. It contained the vil- 
lages of St. Louis, Carondelet and St. Ferdinand, with several 
good settlements extending westward into what is now Frank- 
lin county. 

The village of Carondelet contained between forty and fifty 
houses, population chiefly Canadian-French. St. Ferdinand 
contained sixty houses. The population of the district was 
about two thousand two hundred and eighty whites, and five 
hundred blacks. St. Louis contained about one hundred and 
eighty houses, which, allowing six persons to each house, 
would make the population one thousand and eighty. About 
three-fifths of the population in this District were Anglo- 
Americans. Each of the Districts extended indefinitely west. 

The largest and most populous settlement in St. Louis Dis- 
trict, was called St. Andrews. It was situated near the Mis- 
souri, in the north-western part of the present county of St. 
Louis. 

The District of St. Charles, included all the inhabited coun- 
try between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. It had two 
compact villages, St. Charles and Portage des Sioux, the in- 
habitants of which were French Creoles and Canadians. — 
Femme Osage was an extensive settlement of Anglo-Ameri- 
can families. The population of the District in 1804, was 
about one thousand four hundred whites and one hundred and 
fifty blacks. TI.e American and French population were 
about equally divided.* 

The aggregate population of Upper Louisiana at the pe- 
riod of the cession, was about 10,120, of which 3,760 were 
French, including a few Spanish families ; 5,090 were Anglo- 
Americans, who had immigrated to the country after 1790; — 

»See Stoddard'a Skekhes, p. 211, 224. 



544 Population of Upper Louisiana. 1804. 

and 1,270 black people, who were -slaves, with very few ex- 
ceptions. 

Several circumstances gave impulse to migration to this 
province. The transfer of the Illinois country to the British 
crown in 1765, caused many wealthy and respectable fami- 
lies to retire across the Mississippi. 

The ordinance of 1787, which prohibited involuntary servi- 
tude in the north-western territory, caused slave holders, who 
were disposed to preserve this species of property, to abandon 
their ancient possessions. The proflered aid of Clark in 1779, 
(ante page 250) when he apprehended an attack from Cana- 
da, and more especially the projected attack on the Spanish 
possessions along the Mississippi, from the same quarter, in 
1797, induced a friendly feeling towards Americans. 

Major Stoddard says:- — 

" The distance of this province from the capital, [New Or- 
leans,] added to a wilderness of nearly a thousand miles in 
extent between them, seemed to point out the necessit}' of 
strengthening it ; and she conceived it good policy to popu- 
late it by the citizens of the United States, especially as they 
appeared disposed to act with vigor against the English. Ad- 
ditional prospects, therefoie, were held out to settlers, and 
pains were taken to disseminate them in every direction. — 
Large quantities of land were granted them, attended with 
no other expenses than those of office fees, and surveys, which 
were not exorbitant ; and they were totally exempted from 
taxation. This sufficiently accounts for the rapid population 
of Upper Louisiana; which, in 1804, consisted of more than 
three-fifths of English Americans." f 

Why did so many American citizens expatriate themselves, 
place themselves and their posterity under Spanish despotism, 
and beyond the protection of the rights of conscience ? This 
is a question of grave and momentous import, and if it re- 
mained unanswered, might leave a suspicion on the charac- 
ter and motives of the American emigrants. Happily, we 
have the opportunity for explanation. We have been inti- 
mately acquainted with a large number of these pioneers, a 
few of whom still linger amongst us, and more than thirty 
years since we heard their own explanations. 

TJicy acted under a presentiment, that, in some way, the jui'is- 
diction of the United States would be extended over this country. — 
They projected no violent action — no revolutionary schemes. 
The impression, doubtless, had its origin in the efforts in the 

t Sketches of Louisiana, 225. 



1804. Indian Treaties Made. 545 

western country to obtain the navigation of the Mississippi. 
Of the character of the American population, we ought to 
say a word, to correct an erroneous notion that has prevailed 
in the Atlantic States, concerning frontier emigration. 

" A very small number had lied their country to avoid the 
consequences of crime or improvidence. But a very large 
majority were peaceable, industrious, moral and well-disposed 
persons, who, from various motives, had crossed the " Great 
Water ;" some from the love of adventure ; some from that 
spirit of restlessness, which belongs to a class; but a much 
larger number with the expectation of obtaining large tracts 
of land, which the government gave to each settler for the 
trifling expense of surveying and recording. * * * 

" Under the Spanish government the Roman Catholic faith 
was the established religion of the province, and no other 
christian sect was tolerated by the laws of Spain. Each emi- 
grant was required to be un bon Catholiquc, as the French ex- 
pressed it ; yet by the connivance of the commandants of Up- 
per Louisiana, and by the use of a legal fiction in the exami- 
nation of Americans, who applied for lands, toleration in fact 
existed. 

" Many Protestant families, communicants in Baptist, Meth- 
odist, and Presbyterian, and other Churches, settled in the pro- 
vince, and remained undisturbed in their religious principles. 
Protestant itinerant clergymen passed over from Illinois, and 
preached in the log cabins of the settlers unmolested, though 
they were occasionally threatened with imprisonment in the 
calabozo at St. Louis. Yet these threats were never execu- 
ted.*' 

No religious society was organized amongst these emigrants 
until after the treaty of cession. 

We now return to events in the territory of Indiana, Dur- 
ing the month of August, a series of treaties were made by 
Governor Harrison at Vincennes, by which the claims of sev- 
eral Indian nations to large tracts of land in Indiana and Illi- 
nois, were relinquished to the United States, for due conside- 
ration. The Delawares sold their claim to a large tract be- 
tween the Wabash and Ohio rivers ; and the Piankeshaws 
gave up their title to lands granted by the Kaskaskia Indians 
the preceding year. 

It should be understood by all, that, in most instances, Indian 
claims are vague and undefined; that several tribes set up a 
claim to the same tract ; and that the policy of the United 

*"Life of Boone in Sparks' Biography, vol. xxiii. pp. 166, 167, 169, 170. 



546 Detroit Described in 1S04. 1804. 

States has been to negotiate with each claimant, without re- 
gard to priority of right. 

In November, Governor Harrison negotiated with the chiefs 
of the united nations of Sacs and Foxes, for their claim to 
the immense tract of country lying between the Mississippi, 
Illinois, Fox river of Illinois, and Wisconsin rivers, compre- 
hending about fifty millions of acres. The consideration giv- 
en was the protection of the United States, and goods deliv- 
ered at the value of two thousand two hundred and thirly- 
four dollars and fifty cents, and an annuity of one thousand 
dollars, ($600 to the Sacs and §400 to the Foxes) forever.— 
An article in this treaty provided, that as long as the United 
States remained the owner of the land, " the Indians belong- 
ing to the said tribes shall enjoy the privilege of living and 
hunting" on the land. 

The remark just made applies to this case. When the 
French discovered and took possession of Illinois, neither the 
Sacs nor Foxes had any claim or existence on this tract of 
country.*] 

During this year measures were adopted to learn the facts 
as to the settlements about Detroit, and an elaborate report 
upon them was made by C. Jouett, the Indian Agent in Mi- 
chigan. From that report, we take some sentences illustra- 
tive of the state of the capital. 

The town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen 
acres square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, 
and is now from the best information I have been able to col- 
lect, at Quebec. Of those two hundred and twenty-five acres, 
only four are occupied by the town and Fort Lenault. The 
remainder is a common, except twenty-four, which were ad- 
ded twent)' years ago to a farm belonging to William Ma- 
comb. As to the titles to the lots in town, I should conceive 
that the citizens might legally claim, from a length of undis- 
turbed and peaceable possession, even in the absence of a 
more valid and substantial tenure. Several of those lots are 
held by the commanding officer as appendages of the garri- 
son. A stockade encloses the town, fort, and citadel. The 
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a state of grad- 
ual decay, and in a few days, without repairs, they must fall 
to the ground. The streets are narrow, straight, regular, and 
intersect each other at right angles. The houses are, for the 
most part, low and inelegant ; and although many of them 
are convenient and suited to the occupations of the people, 

* American State Papers, v. 6S9, 690, 663. Dawson's Life of nairison, 59. 



18C6. Territory of Michigan Organized. 547 

there are perhaps a majority of them which require very con- 
siderable reparation.* 

Congress, during 1804, granted a township of land in Mi- 
chigan for the support of a College. f 

On the 11th of January, 1805, Congress made Michigan a 
separate territory, with William Hull for its Governor: the 
change of Government was to take place on June 30th. On 
the 11th of that month a fire at Detroit destroyed all the 
buildings at that place, public and private, together with much 
of the personal property of the inhabitants. On the 29th of 
June, the Presiding Judge reached the Strait, and upon the 
1st of July, the Governor arrived there. They found the peo- 
ple, in part, encamped on and near the site of the destroyed 
town, and in part scattered through the country .J From their 
report to Congress, made in October, we extract the follow- 
ing passages : 

" The place which bore the appellation of the town of De- 
troit, was a spot of about two acres of ground, completely 
covered with buildings and combustible materials, the narrow 
intervals of fourteen or fifteen feet, used as streets or lanes, 
only excepted; and the whole was environed with a very 
strong and secure defence of tall and solid pickets. The cir- 
cumjacent ground, the bank of the river alone excepted, was 
a wide commons; and though assertions are made respecting 
the existence, among the records of Quebec, of a charter from 
the King of France, confirming this commons as an appurte- 
nance to the town, it was either the property of the United 
States, or at least such as individual claims did not pretend to 
cover. The folly of attempting to rebuild the town, in the 
original mode, was obvious to every mind: yet there existed 
no authority, either in the countr}^ or in the officers of the 
new government, to dispose of the adjacent ground. Hence 
had already arisen a state of dissension which urgently re- 
quired the interposition of some authority to quiet. Some of 
the inhabitants, destitute of shelter, and hopeless of any 
prompt arrangements of Government, had re-occupicd their 
former ground, and a few buildings had already been erected 
in the midst of the old ruins. Another portion of the inhabi- 
tants had determined to take possession of the adjacent pub- 
lic ground, and to throw themselves on the liberality of the 
Government of the United States, either to make them a do- 

* American State Papers, xvi. 190 to 192. On titles in Michigan, sec American State 
Papers, Public Lands, vol. i. from 283 to 508. 

t Lannan, 230. 

JLanman, 169. — American State Paper?, xvi. 247. — Land Laws, 614. 



548 Detroit Re-sui^cyed. 1805. 

nation of the ground, as a compensation for their sufferings, 
or to accept ot" a very moderate price for it. If they could 
have made any arrangement of the various pretensions of in- 
dividuals, or could have agreed on any plan of a town, they 
\vould soon have begun to build. But the want of a civil au- 
thority to decide interfering claims, or to compel the refracto- 
ry to submit to the wishes of a majority, had yet prevented 
them from carrying any particular measure into execution. — 
On the morning of Monday, the 1st day of July, the inhabi- 
tants had assembled for the purpose of resolving on some de- 
finitive mode of procedure. The Judges prevailed on them 
to defer their intentions for a short time, giving them assuran- 
ces that the Governor of the territory would shortly arrive, 
and that every arrangement in the power of their domestic 
Government would be made for their relief. On these repre- 
sentations they consented to defer their measures for one fort- 
night. In the evening of the same day the Governor arrived; 
it was his first measure to prevent any encroachments from 
being made on the public land. The situation of the distress- 
ed inhabitants then occupied the attention of the members of 
the Government for two or three days. The result of these 
discussions was, to proceed to lay out a new town, embracing 
the whole of the old town and the public lands adjacent; to 
state to the people that nothing in the nature of a title could 
be given under any authorities then possessed by the Govern- 
ment ; and that they could not be justified in holding out any 
charitable donations whatever, as a compensation for their 
sufferings, but that every personal exertion would be made to 
obtain a confirmation of the arrangements about to be made, 
and to obtain the liberal attention of the Government of the 
United Slates to their distresses. 

A town was accordingly surveyed and laid out, and the 
want of authority to impart any I'egular title, without the sub- 
sequent sanction of Congress, being first impressed and clearly 
understood, the lots were exposed to sale under that reserva- 
tion. Where the purchaser of a lot was a proprietor in the 
old town, he was at liberty to extinguish his former property 
in his new acquisition, foot for foot, and was expected to pay 
onl}' for the surplus, at the rate expressed in his bid. A con- 
siderable part of the inhabitants were only tenants in the old 
tow^n, there being no means of acquiring any new titles. The 
sale of course could not be confined merely to former proprie- 
tors, but, as far as possible, was confined to former inhabitants. 
After the sale of a considerable part, by auction, tiie remain- 
der was disposed of by private contract, deducting from the 
previous sales the basis of the terms. As soon as the neces- 
sities of the immediate inhabitants were accommodated, the 
sales were entirely stopped, until the pleasure of Government 
could be consulted. As no title could be made, or was pre- 



1805. ecumlhc and his brother appear. 549 

tended to be made, no paynnients were required, or any moneys 
permitted to be received, until the expiration of one year, to 
afford time for Congress to interpose. The remaining part 
was stipulated to be paid in four successive annual instal- 
ments. The highest sum resulting from the bids was seven 
cents for a square foot, and the whole averaged at least four 
cents. In this way the inhabitants were fully satisfied to com- 
mence their buildings, and the interfering pretensions of all 
individuals were eventually reconciled.* 

In this same report attention was called to the unsettled 
southern boundary of Michigan, to the state of the land titles 
generally, and other important points. [Only six regular titles 
were found in Michigan. f] 

While in Michigan the territorial government was taking 
shape, Indiana passed to the second grade of the same, as 
provided by the ordinance, and obtained her General Assembly; 
while various treaties with the northern tribes were transfer- 
ring to the United States the Indian title to large and valuable 
tracts of country. On the 4th of July, the Wyandots and 
others, at Fort Industry, on the Maumee, ceded all their lands 
as far west as the western boundary of the Connecticut Re- 
serve; upon the 21st of August, Governor Harrison, at Vin- 
cennes, received from the Miamies a region containing two 
million acres within what is now Indiana ; and upon the 30th 
of December, at the same place, purchased of the Pianke- 
shaws a tract eighty or ninety miles wide, extending from the 
Wabash west to the cession by the Kaskaskias in 1803. At 
this time, although some murders by the red men had taken 
place in the far west, the bod}^ of natives seemed bent on, 
peace. J But mischief was gathering. Tecumthe, his brother ' 
the Prophet and other leading men, had formed at Greenville 
the germ of that union of tribes by which the whites were to 
be restrained in their invasions. W"e are by no means satis- 
tied that the Great Indian of later days used an}' concealment, 
or meditated any treachery toward the United States, for 
many years after this time. The efforts of himself and his 
brother were directed to two points : first, the reformation of 
the savages, whose habits unfitted them for continuous and 
heroic eftbrt ; and second, such a union as would make the 



^American State Papers, svi. 247. 

■f American State Paper?, xvi. 2G3 to 284; 305 to 557 and 592. 

JAmerican State Paper.^, v. 605, 695, 696, 791, 702, 704r, 705. 



550 Policy of Tecumthc. 1805 

purchase of land by the United States impossible, and give to 
the aborigines a strength that might be dreaded. Both these 
objects were avowed, and both were pursued with wonderful 
energy, perseverance and success ; in the whole country bor- 
dering upon the lakes, the power of the Prophet was felt, and 
the work of reformation went on rapidly.* 

[The policy of Tecumthe was to bring into one grand con- 
federation all the nations of Indians that had any intercourse 
with the United States, and admit of no treaties, or sales of 
land, without the united consent of all the tribes. Such a con- 
federation never had existed, and magnificent as ^vas the 
scheme, it was wholly impracticable in the nature of things, 
Tecumthe could read and write, and he had for his confiden- 
tial secretary and adviser, Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, an 
educated man, and subsequently head chief of the Pottawato- 
mie nation, who died in 1845, near Council Bluffs in Iowa. 
Mr. Caldwell, who gave the editor these facts, had a trunk full 
of papers, including the "talks," and negotiations sent to va- 
rious Indian tribes before the war of 1812-15. The interview 
was in Chicago, in 1833, where he then resided.] 

It was during this year that Burr paid his first visit to the 
West. On the 11th of July, 1804, he had shot General Ham- 
ilton, an event which he felt would "ostracise" him; would 
force him to seek elsewhere for power, money, and fame. On 
the 2d of March, 1805, the Vice President took his celebrated 
leave of the Senate, and upon the 29th of April was at Pitts- 
burgh. His purpose in going westvirard was not the gratifica- 
tion of curiosity merely, and from Wilkinson we learn that 
he was concerned with Dayton and others in the projected 
canal round the Falls, at Louisville ; a proposal which had 
been before the United States' Senate in January. From 
Pittsburgh he proceeded down the Ohio to Louisville, thence 
went to Lexington and Nashville by land, and from the latter 
place passed down the Cumberland, and upon the 6th of June 
reached Fort Massac. During his visit to Tennessee he was 
treated with great attention, and both then and previously had 
some conversation relative to a residence in that state, with a 
view to political advancement. His intentions, however, seem 
to have been entirely vague : among other plans, he had some 
thought of trying to displace Governor Claiborne of the Or- 

♦Drake'3 Teoumseh, 88, 93, 103. 



1806 Burros Plans mature. 531 

leans territory, and took from Wilkinson, whom he met at Fort 
Massac, a letter to Daniel Clark, the Governor's most violent 
foe. On the 25th of June, Burr reached the capitol of the 
south-west, where he remained until the 10th of July, when 
he crossed by land to Nashville, and spent a week wiih Gene- 
ral Jackson — and upon the 20th of August, was at Lexing- 
ton again : from Lexington, he went by the Falls, Vincennes 
and Kaskaskia, to St. Louis, where he met General Wil- 
kinson about the middle of September. By this time, all his 
plans appear to have undergone a change again. At New 
Orleans he had been made aware of the existence of an asso- 
ciation to invade Mexico and wrest it from Spain ; he was 
asked to join it, but refused. He saw, however, at that time, 
if not before, that, should the dispute relative to boundaries 
then existing between the United States result in war, an op- 
portunity would be given to men of spirit to conquer and rule 
Mexico, and this idea thenceforth became his leading one. 
But in connection with this plan of invasion, in case of war, 
there arose whispers in relation to effecting a separation of 
the western from the Atlantic States ; of this we have know- 
ledge by a letter from Daniel Clark to General Wilkinson, 
written September 7th. What Burr's conversations with the 
commander at St. Louis were, we are not particularly told, 
but we learn that he suggested the Mexican plan, and also in- 
timated that the Union was rotten and the vi^estern people 
dissatisfied. Such was the effect of his talk that soon after he 
left, Wilkinson wrote to the Secretary of the Navy advising 
the government to have an eye on Burr, as he was " about 
something, but whether internal or externl," he could not learn. 
Thus, during 1805, the idea of a separation of the western 
states from the Union by Burr and Wilkinson, had become 
familiar to many minds, even though the principals themselves 
may have had no more thought of such a thing than of taking 
possession of the moon, and dividing her among their friends.* 

Upon the 23d of September, Lieutenant Pike, on his way 
up the Mississippi, bought of the Sioux two tracts, one at the 

*For all theso facta see Davis' Memoirs of Burr, ii. 327, 367, 368 to 370, 373, 379, 3S0.— 
Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 274 to 273; Spenco's Deposition, ii. 283, note; — also, ibid, Ap- 
pendix, 2, xviii. Col. Lyon's Deposition. American State Papers, xx. 571. Ibid, ii. 660 to 
669. Also, Bu rr's Trial at Richmond, Va. 



552 Lewis and Clark's Expedition. 1S06 

mouth of the St. Croix river, the other at the mouth of the 
St. Peters, including the Falls of St. Anthony.* 

In the bili authorizing Ohio to become a State, was the fol- 
lowing provision : 

Third, that one twentieth part of the nctt proceeds of the 
lands lying within the said State, sold by Congress, from and 
after the thirtieth day of June next, after deducting all expen- 
ses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying out 
and making public roads, leading from the navigable waters 
emptying into the Atlantic, to the Ohio, to the said State, and 
through the same ; such roads to be laid out under the au- 
thority of Congress, with the consent of the several States 
through which the road shall pass.f 

In conformity with this clause, steps were taken during 
1S05, which resulted in the making of the Cumberland or Na- 
tional road. 

During the year 1806, the conviction became more and 
more strong that the north-western tribes were meditating 
hostilities against the United States, but nothing of conse- 
quence took place; although Tecumthe and the Prophet 
constantly extended and confirmed their influence. J 

In September, 1806, Messrs. Lewis and Clarke returned 
from their exploration of the Missouri and Oregon rivers* 
This expedition had been suggested by Mr. Jeflerson in Janu- 
ary, 1803. His views being sanctioned by Congress, Captain 
Lewis and Lieutenant Clarke entered the Missouri, May 14, 
1804. The ensuing winter they spent among the Mandans, 
and in April, 1805, again set forward. With great difficulty 
the mountains were passed, in the September following, and 
the Pacific reached upon the 17th of November. Here the 
winter of 1805-6 was passed. On the 27th of March, 1806, 
the return journe}'' was begun, and the mountains were 
crossed late in June. 

The difficulties with Spain began early in the year to as- 
sume a serious appearance ; in February, acts of a semi-hos- 

*Ameriean State Papers, v. 753, 755. Pike's Expedition up the Mississipid, in 1S05, '6 
"J, published in Philadelphia, 1810. 
t Land Laws, 476. 

t Dawson's Harrison, 83 to 90. Drake's Tecumseh, 89 to 91. 
American State Papers, v. 684, 705. Lewis and Clarke's Journal. 



1806. Burros Movements. 

tile character took place,* and in August, Spanish troops crossed 
the Sabine and took possession of the territory east of that riv- 
er. This led first to a correspondence between Gov. Claiborne 
and the Spaniard in command ; and next to a movement by 
General Wilkinson and his army to tlie contested border. 
While his troops were at Natchitoches, in immediate expecta- 
tion of an engagement, Samuel Swartwout reached Wilkin- 
son's camp, with letters from Burr and Dayton of such a 
character as to bring matters in relation to the conquest of 
Mexico almost instantly to a crisis. f 

[Burr had not entirely given up his chance as a politician 
in the Atlantic states, as may be seen in the letter of Gene- 
ral Adair, in Wilkinson's Memoirs of his Own Times, vol. ii. 
Appendix, Ixxvii.] 

Burr, from January to August, Mr. Davis tells us, was most 
of the time in Washington and Philadelphia, but not idle, 
for in a letter to Wilkinson, dated April 16th, the conspirator 
says, '* Burr will be throughout the United States this sum- 
mer;" and refers to "the association," as enlarged, and to 
the " project" as postponed till December. In July, Commo- 
dore Truxton learned from Burr that he was interested largely 
in lands upon the Washita, which he proposed to settle if his 
Mexican project failed ; and in August we find that he left 
for the west. On the 21st of that month he was in Pittsburgh, 
and there suggested to Colonel George Morgan and his son the 
probable disunion of the States, growing out of the extreme 
weakness of the Federal Government ; a suggestion similar 
to that said to have been made, though in a much more dis- 
tinct and strong form, to General Eaton, in the March preced- 
ing. His plans, indeed, whatever their extent, were before 
this time fixed and perfected, for it was upon the 29th of July 
that he wrote from Philadelphia to General Wilkinson the 
letter confided to Swartwout, which led to the development 
of the whole business ; this letter we extract, together with 
Wilkinson's deposition of December 26th, explanatory of 
Burr's plans. J 

* American State Papers, ii. 793. 

■f- American State Papers, ii. 803 to 80-1. See for document? "Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 
appendix, Ix. Ixxxvii, to xciii. Also, American State Papers, xx, 661 to 563, 565. 

J Davis' Memoirs, ii. 375; — Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. Appendix, Ixxjiii; — American 
State Papers, xx. 471, 472, 493 to 696. 

35 



554 Burros Letter to Wilkinson. 1806. 

[Yours, post-marked 13th of May, is received.]* I, Aaron 
Burr, have obtained funds, and have actually commenced the 
enterprise. Detachments from different points, and under 
different pretences, will rendezvous on Ohio, 1st November — 
every thing internal and external favors views : protection of 

England is secured. T is going to Jamaica, to arrange 

with the Admiral on that station ; it will meet on the Missis- 
sippi. — England. — Navy of the United States are ready to 
join, and final orders are given to my friends and followers ; 
it will be a host of choice spirits. Wilkinson shall be second 
to Burr only : Wilkinson shall dictate the rank and promotion 
of his officers. Burr will proceed westward 1st of August, 
never to return : with him go his daughter : the husband will 
follow in October, with a corps of worthies. 

Send forth an intelligent and confidential friend with whom 
Burr may confer ; he shall return immediately with further 
interesting details : this is essential to concert and harmony 
of movement ; send a list of all persons known to Wilkinson, 
west of the mountains, who may be useful, with a note delinea- 
ting their characters. By your messenger send me four or five 
commissions of your officers, which you can borrow under any 
pretence you please; they shall be returned faithfully. Al- 
ready are orders to the contractor given, to forward six 
months provisions to points Wilkinson may name; this shall 
not be used until the last moment, and then under proper in- 
junctions : the project is brought to the point so long desired. 
Burr guarantees the result with his life and honor, with the 
lives, the honor and fortune of hundreds, the best blood of 
our country. Burr's plan of operations is, to move down rap- 
idly from the Falls on the loth November, with the first 500, 
or 1000 men, in light boats now constructing for that purpose, 
to be at Natchez between the 5th and 15th of December ; 
there to meet Wilkinson ; there to determine whether it will 
be expedient in the first instance to seize on or pass by Baton 
Rouge : on receipt of this send an answer ; draw on Burr for 
all expenses, &c. The people of the country to which we 
are going, are prepared to receive us : their agents now with 
Burr say, that if we will protect their religion and will not 
subject them to a foreign power, that in three weeks all will 
be settled. The gods invite to glory and fortune : it remains 
to be seen whether we deserve the boon : the bearer of this 
goes express to you; he will hand a formal letter of introduc- 
tion to you from Burr: he is a man of inviolable honor and 
perfect discretion ; formed to execute rather than to project ; 
capable of relating facts with fidelity, and incapable of rela- 
ting them otherwise; he is thoroughly informed of the plans 

* The parts in brackets were omitted in the copy which AVilkiufon u-cd, in causing the 
arreft of Bollnian and others. (?ce American State Pajier.*, xx. 471, 472.) This omission 
was the ground of the accusation hereafter referred to 



1806. Wilkinson's affidavit. 555 

and intentions of [Burr,] and will disclose to you as far as 
you inquire, and no further : he has imbibed a reverence for 
your character, and may be embarrassed in your presence : 
put him at ease and he will satisfy you.* 
July 29. 

I instantly resolved — says Wilkinson in his affidavit — to 
avail myself of the reference made to the bearer, and, in the 
course of some days, drew from him (the said Swartwout) the 
following disclosure : " That he had been despatched by Col- 
onel Burr from Philadelphia ; had passed through the States 
of Ohio and Kentucky, and proceeded from Louisville for St. 
Louis, where he expected to find me ; but discovering at Kas- 
kaskias that I had descended the river, he procured a skiff, 
hired hands, and followed me down the Mississippi to Fort 
Adams ; and from thence set out for Natchitoches, in company 
with Captain Sparks and Hooke, under the pretence of a dis- 
position to take part in the campaign against the Spaniards, 
then depending. That Colonel Burr, with the support of a 
powerful association extending from New York to New Or- 
leans, was levying an armed body of seven thousand men 
from the State of New York and the western States and ter- 
ritories, with a view to carry an expedition against the Mexi- 
can provinces ; and that five hundred men, under Colonel 
Swartwoul and a Colonel or Major Tyler, were to descend 
the Alleghany, for whose accommodation light boats had been 
built and were ready." I inquired what would be their course; 
he said, " this territory would be revolutionized, where the 
people were ready to join them ; and that there would be 
some seizing, he supposed, at New Orleans ; that they expected 
to be ready to embark about the 1st of February; and intend- 
ed to laud at Vera Cruz, and to march from thence to Mex- 
ico." I observed that there were several millions of dollars 
in the bank of this place ; to which he replied, "■' we know it 
full well ;" and, on my remarking that they certainly did not 
mean to violate private propert}', he said, "they meant to 
borrow, and would return it ; that they must equip themselves 
in New Orleans ; that they expected naval protection from 
Great Britain ; that the captains and the officers of our navy 
were so disgusted with the Government that they were ready 
to join; that similar disgusts prevailed throughout the west- 
ern country, where the people were zealous in favor of the 
enterprise ; and that pilot-boat built schooners were contract- 
ed for along our southern coast for their service ; that he had 
been accompanied from the falls of Ohio to Kaskaskias, and 
from thence to Fort Adams, by a Mr. Ogden, who had pro- 
ceeded on to New Orleans with letters from Colonel Burr to 
his friends there." Swartwout asked me whether I had 

* Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii, 3 



556 Suspicions as to Buj-r's Plans. 1806- 

heard from Dr. Bollman ; and, on my answering in the nega- 
tive, he expressed great surprise, and observed, " that the 
Doctor and a Mr. Alexander had left Philadelphia before him 
with despatches for me ; and that they were to proceed by 
sea to New Orleans, where he said they must have arrived. 

Though determined to deceive him, if possible, I could not 
refrain telling Mr. Swartwout it was impossible that I could 
ever dishonor my commission ; and I believe I duped him by 
my admiration of the plan and by observing, that although I 
could not join in the expedition, the engagements which the 
Spaniards had prepared for me in my front might prevent my 
opposing it. Yet I did, the moment I had deciphered the let- 
ter, put it into the hands of Colonel Gushing, my adjutant and 
inspector ; making the declaration that I should oppose the 
lawless enterprise with my utmost force. Mr. Swartwout in- 
formed me that he was under engagements to meet Colonel 
Burr at Nashville on the 20th of November, and requested of 
me to write to him, which I declined ; and on his leaving Nat- 
chitoches about the 18th of October, I immediately employed 
Lieutenant T. A. Smith to convey the information in sub- 
stance to the President without the commitment of names ; 
for from the extraordinary nature of the project and the more 
extraordinary appeal to me, I could but doubt its reality, not- 
withstanding the testimony before me; and I did not attach 
solid belief to Mr. Swartwout's reports respecting their inten- 
tions on this Territory and city, until I received confirmatory 
advice from St. Louis.* 

After leaving Pittsburgh, Burr went probably direct to Blen- 
nerhassett's Island, where he had stopped the previous sum- 
mer, while passing down the Ohio, and which he thenceforth 
made his head-quarters. This he was probably led to do by 
the fact that Blennerhassett, in December, 1805, had written 
him, that he should like to take part in any M'estern specula- 
tions, or in attacking Mexico, should a Spanish war actually 
occur. This offer, together with the supposed wealth of Blen- 
nerhassett, and the admirable position of his island for Burr's 
purposes, made that place the very one most desirable for 
him to select as his centre of operations. From this point 
the Chief made excursions into Ohio and Kentucky, obtain- 
ing money, men, boats and provisions. 

Among those from whom he received the most aid was 
Davis Floyd, of JefTersonville, a member of the Indiana As- 
sembly : this gentleman, Blennerhassett, Comfort Tyler and Is- 
rael Smith, were Burr's chiefs of division, and led the few fol- 

* American State Papers, xz. 472. 



1806. Daviess makes oath against Burr. 557 

lowers that at last went down the river in his company. 
Meantime the rumor was prevalent "in every man's mouth," 
that the settlement of the Washita lands,* for which the men 
M^ere nominally enlisted, was a mere pretence, and that an 
attack on Mexico, if not something worse, was in contempla- 
tion.! That something was looked for beyond a conquest of 
the Spanish provinces, seemed probable from the views ex- 
pressed in a series of essays called the " Querist;" these were 
published in September in the Ohio Gazette, (Marietta,) were 
written by Blennerhassett, immediately after Burr's visit to 
his island, and strongly intimated that wisdom called on the 
western people to leave the Union. At this time Colonel Jo- 
seph Daviess was attorney for the United Slates in Kentucky, 
and he, together with others,^ felt that the General Govern- 
ment ought to be informed of what was doing, and of what 
M'as rumored ; Mr. Jefferson accordingly, in the latter part of 
September, received intimations of what was going forward, 
but as nothing definite could be charged there was no point 
of attack, and the Executive and his friends could do nothing 
farther than watch and wait. At length, late in October, no- 
tice of the building of boats and collection of provisions 
having reached him, the President sent a confidential agent 
into the west,§ and also gave orders to the Governors and 
commanders to be upon their guard. Daviess, meantime, had 
gathered a mass of testimony implicating Burr, which led 
him to take the step of bringing the subject, in November, 
before the United States District Court, making oath, " that he 
was informed, and did verily believe, that Aaron Burr for 
several months past had been, and now is engaged, in pre- 
paring and setting on foot, and in providing and preparing the 
means for a military expedition and enterprise within this 
district, for the purpose of descending the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi therewith ; and making war upon the subjects of the 
King of Spain." After having read this affidavit, the attor- 
ney added, "I have information, on which I can rely, that all 
the western territories are the next object of the scheme — and 

* See Colonel Lyon, in Wilkinson, ii. Appendix Ixviii ;— Davis, ii. .392 ;— Butler's Ken- 
tucky, 312, 313.— American State Papers, sx. 499, 524, 535, 599. 

t Burnet's letters, 103. Numerous witnesses at Burr's trial, Richmond. 

X See the Statements and papers in Marshall, ii. 385 to 413 — 424 to 433. 

g Mr. John Graham, secretary of the Orleans Territory. His evidence is in American 
State Paperg, xx. 528, &c. 



558 Governor TiJJin seizes Burros Boats. 1806. 

finally, all the region of the Ohio, is calculated, as falling into 
the vortex of the newly proposed revolution." 

Upon this affidavit Daviess asked for Burr's arrest, but the 
motion was overruled. The accused, however, who saw at 
once the most politic course, came into court and demanded 
an investigation, which could not be had, however, in conse- 
quence of the impossibility of obtaining Davis Floyd as a 
witness. Thus far the public generally sympathized with Burr, 
whose manners secured all suffrages, and who, on the 1st of 
December was able to write to Henry Clay, his attorney, in 
these terms : " I have no design, nor have I taken any meas- 
ure to promote a dissolution of the Union, or a separation of 
any one or more States from the residue. I have neither pub- 
lished a line on this subject, nor has any one through my 
agency or with my knowledge, I have no design to inter- 
meddle with the government, or to disturb the tranquility of 
the United States, nor of its terriiories, or of any part of 
them. I have neither issued nor signed, nor promised a com- 
mission to any person, for any purpose. I do not own a mus- 
ket nor bayonet, nor any single article of military stores, nor 
does any person for me, by my authority, or my knowledge. 
My views have been explained to, and approved by, several 
of the principal officers of government, and, I believe, are 
well understood by the administration, and seen by it with 
complacency ; they are such as every 7nan of honor and every 
good cithen must approve. Considering the high station you 
now fill in cur national councils, I have thought these expla- 
nations proper, as well to counteract the chimerical tales, 
which malevolent persons have industriously circulated, as to 
satisfy you that you have not espoused the cause of a man in 
any way unfriendly to the laws, the government or the inter- 
ests of the country."* 

The agent from government, who was all along activelj' 
engaged in procuring evidence relative to Burr's plans, find- 
ing abundant proof of his Mexican project, and learning also 
that he thought the West ought to separate from the East, f 
determined in December, to take measures to arrest his boats 
and provisions. This he effected by an application to the 

♦BuUer'i Kentucky, 313, 316. See Jefferson's Message, American State Paper?, xx- 
469. 

t American State Papers, xx. 531, 529. 



1806. Swartwout and Bollman Arrested. 559 

Legislature of Ohio, through Governor TifRn. The Legisla- 
ture authorized the Governor to take the necessary steps, and 
before the 14th of December, ten boats with stores weve ar- 
rested on the Muskingum, and soon after, four more %vcre seiz- 
ed by the troops at Marietta.* Blennerhassett, Tyler, and 
thirty or forty men, on the night of December 10th, left the 
Island, and proceeded down the river, — barely escaping an ar- 
rest by General Tupper, on behalf of the State of Ohio. On 
the 16th, this party united with that of Floyd at the Falls, and 
on the 26th, the whole, together, met Burr at the mouth of 
the Cumberland. On the 29th, the company passed Fort 
Massac. 

But while Daviess and Graham were laboring to put a stop 
to Burr's progress, the General Government had received in- 
formation which enabled the President to act with decision ; 
this was the message of Wilkinson, bearing an account of 
Burr's letter already quoted. This message was sent from 
Natchitoches upon the 22d of October, and reached the seat of 
government, November 25lh ; on the 27th, a proclamation 
was issued and word sent westward to arrest all concerned. 
About the same time, (November 24th or 25th,) Wilkinson, 
who had done, unauthorized, upon the 1st of November, the 
very thing he had been ordered on the 8th to do, — namely, to 
make an accommodation with the Spanish commander on the 
Sabine, and fall back to the Mississippi, reached New Orleans, 
and prepared to resist any attack thereon : at this city he ar- 
rested Swartwout, Peter V. Ogden, M'ho was discharged, how- 
ever, on Habeas Corpus, and Dr. Erick Bollman, who had also 
borne messages from Burr and Dayton. f 

What Burr may have felt or intended after he met his fugi- 
tive followers at the mouth of Cumberland river, late in De- 
cember, 1806, it is impossible to say, but it is certain that he 
went on openly and boldly, protesting against the acts of 
Ohio, and avowing his innocence. If he had relied on Wil- 
kinson, he was as yet undeceived with regard to him. On 
the 4th of January, 1807, he was at Fort Pickering, Chicka- 
saw BtufTs, and soon after at Bayou Pierre. From this point 

* See Governor TifiBn's Letters. Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 259, 260. His message 
of December 15th. Journal of Senate, 36. 

t American State Papers, xx. from 466 to 600. Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 31S, anj va- 
rious appendices to the volume. 



660 Burr's Trial and Purposes. 1807. 

he wrote to the authorities below, referring to the rumors re- 
specting him, alledging his innocence, and begging them to 
avoid the horrors of civil war. Word hud just been received 
from Jefferson, however, of the supposed conspiracy ; the mi- 
litia were under arms; and the acting Governor of the Mis- 
sissippi Territory, Covvles Mead, on the 16th of January, sent 
two aids to meet Colonel Burr; one of these was Geo. Poin- 
dexter. At this meeting, an interview between the acting 
Governor was arranged, which took place on the 17th; at 
which time Burr yielded himself to the civil authority. He 
was then taken to Washington, the capital of the territory, 
and legal proceedings commenced. Mr. Poindexter was him- 
self Attorney-General, and as such advised that Burr had been 
guilty of no crime within Mississippi, and wished to have him 
sent to the seat of government of the United States: the pre- 
siding Judge, however, summoned a Grand Jury, which, upon 
the evidence before them, presented — not Burr for treason — 
but the acting Governor for calling out the militia ! That 
evening. Colonel Burr, fearing an arrest by officers sent by 
Wilkinson, forfeited his bonds and disappeared. A proclama- 
tion being issued by the Governor for his apprehension, he 
was seized on the Tombigbee river on his way to Florida, 
and was sent at once to Richmond, where he arrived March 
26th.* On the 22d of JNIay, Burr's examination began in the 
Circuit Court of the United States at Kichmond, before Judge 
Marshall; two bills were found against him, one for treason 
against the United States, the other for a misdemeanor in or- 
ganizing an enterprise against Mexico, while at peace with 
the United States: but on both these charges the jury found 
him " not guilty," " upon the principle that the offence, if 
committed anywhere, was committed out of the jurisdiction of 
the Court." The Chief Justice, however, upon the latter 
charge, subsequently ordered his commitment for trial within 
the proper jurisdiction. This commitment, however, being 
impliedly upon the supposition that the United States wished, 
under the circumstances, to prosecute the accused, and the at- 
torney for the government declining to do so, no further steps 
were taken to bring the supposed culprit to justice, and the 
details of his doings and plans have never yet been made 
known. 

* American State Papers, xx. 477, 47S, 530, 531, 545, 5GS to 570, 602.— Davis u. 389.— 
Butler 318. 



1807. The Purposes of Burr. 661 

Although a mystery still hangs about Burr's plans, in con- 
sequence of the discontinuance of the suit by the United 
States, we think it has been clearly proved by the trial at 
Richmond and other evidence — 1st, that Burr went into the 
West in 1805 with the feeling that his day at the East was 
over; in New York he feared even a prosecution if he re- 
mained there.* 

2nd, That his plans, until late in that year, were undefin- 
ed ; speculations of various kinds, a residence in Tennessee, 
an appointment in the South-west, were under consideration, 
but nothing was determined : 

3d, That he at length settled upon three objects, to one or 
the other of which, as circumstances might dictate, he meant 
to devote his energies : these were — 

A separation of the West from the East under himself and 
Wilkinson : 

Should this be, upon further examination, deemed impossi- 
ble, then an invasion of Mexico by himself and Wilkinson, 
with or without the sanction of the federal government: 

In case of disappointment in reference to Mexico, then the 
foundation of a new state upon the Washita, over which he 
might preside as founder and patriarch.f 

That the Washita scheme was not a mere pretence, we 
think evident from the fact that Burr actually paid toward the 
purchase four or five thousand dollars : that it was not the 
only object, and that the conquest of Mexico, if it could be 
effected, was among his settled determinations, his friends all 
acknowledged, but said this conquest was to take place upon 
the supposition of a war with Spain, and in no other case : 
that Barr may have thought the government would wink at 
his proceedings, is very possible ; and that Wilkinson either 
meant to aid him, or pretended he would, in order to learn his 
plans, is certain ; but the secrecy of his movements, the lan- 
guage of his letter to Wilkinson in July, 1806, and his whole 
character, convinces us that he would, if he could, have inva- 
ded Mexico, whether the United States were at war or peace 
with Spain. 

But we cannot doubt that, going beyond a violation of the 

* Davis' Memoirs, ii. 385, 412. — American State Paper?, xx. 641 to 615. 

t See American State Papers, xx. 530, wliere Eurr speaks to Graham of the Wastita 
linds and "a separate government." 



562 The purposes of Burr. 1807 

laws of the Union, he was disposed to seek a separation of that 
Union itself. During his visit of 1805, he was undoubtedly 
made fully acquainted with the old schemes for independence 
entertained in Kentucky, and was led to question the real at- 
tachment of the western people to the federal government. 
So long as he thought there was a probability of disunion, it 
would naturally be his first object to place himself at the head 
of the republic beyond the mountains, and should he find him- 
self deceived as to the extent of disafiection in the Great Val- 
ley, all his means could be brought to bear upon Mexico. His 
conversations with the Morgans at Pittsburgh, the views of 
the "Querist" prepared by Blennerhassett under Burr's eye, 
and the declarations of Blennerhassett to Henderson and Gra- 
ham, seem to leave no room for doubting the fact that a disso- 
lution of the United States had been contemplated by the cx- 
Vice-President, although we think there is as little reason to 
doubt that it had been abandoned as hopeless, long before his 
arrest.* [Judge Marshall said, (American State Papers, xx. 
644,) "that the object of these writings," (the "Querist,") "was 
to prepare the western states for a dismemberment, is appa- 
rent on the face of them." 

It appears to the editor^ that every unprejudiced mind, who 
analyzes the character of Aaron Burr, from the voluminous 
works to which our references direct, and traces out his history, 
must regard him as devoid of all virtuous principles. His 
history, with that of Benedict Arnold, should be held forth as 
a beacon light to young men, of the dangerous rocks and quick- 
sands of unbridled ambition.] 

With regard to Wilkinson, it is not easy to form a decided 
opinion ; the strongest fact in his favor is that he informed the 
government of Burr's projects, in the fall of 1805 ; the strongest 
fact against him is, that if innocent, he was able to outwit and 
entrap so subtle a man as the conspirator. It has been charg- 
ed against Wilkinson that he altered the letter sent him by 
Burr, and then swore that the copy was a true copy: this, how- 
ever, is fully explained by the deposition of Mr. Duncan, 
Wilkinson's legal adviser at New Orleans, by whom indeed 
the omission was suffered designedly to remain, in opposition 
to the General's repeated and strong expression of his wish 

♦See Lynch'a Testimony in American State Papers, xx. 599,; — same vol. pages 501, 503, 
526 to 631. 



1807 Governor Hull buys the East of Michigan. 563 

that it should be supplied. Another charge has been brought 
against Wilkinson since his death, that he claimed of Mexico 
two hundred thousand dollars for stopping Burr. * This charge 
seems improbable, and it seems equally improbable that dur- 
ing the persecution of the General in 1810, no knowledge of 
so strange an act, and one of so public a nature, should have 
been reached by his enemies. As it was not brought forward 
till 1836, eleven years after his death, no opportunity has oc- 
curred for explaining or disproving it,but it ought not to weigh 
against his memory until further evidence is offered in its sup- 
port.f 

On the 27th of January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan 
Territory, had been authorized by the federal government, to 
enter into a treaty with the north-western Indians, for the lands 
upon the eastern side of the Peninsula, and for those west of 
the Connecticut Reserve, as far as the Auglaise. The direc- 
tions then given having been repeated in September, a council 
was held at Detroit, and a treaty made November 17th, with 
the Ottawas, Chippeways, Wyandots and Pottawatomies, by 
which the country' from the Maumee to Saginaw Bay, on the 
eastern side of Michigan, w^as transferred, with certain reser- 
vations, to the United States.J 

Congress confirmed the old French claims to land in the 
west, during this year. 

A stockade was built round the new town of Detroit.^ 

*See his deposition, American State Papers, xx. 560. — Wilkinson's Memoirs, ij. 333. 

fDavis, ii. 400. 

JAmerican State Papers, v. 745, 747, 743. 

§Lauman, 132, 1S3. 



CHAPTER XVIT. 

THE INDIAN WAR OF 1811. 

Expeditions of Lieutenant Z. M. Pike. — Movements of Tecumthe and the Prophet.— 
Organization of Indiana Territory. — British Intrigue and Influence with the Indians. — 
Conference at Vincennes. — Fort Harrison built. — Battle of Tippecanoe. — Earth<^uakes 
at New Madrid. — First AYestern Steam-boat. 

[It is here necessary to take a brief retrospect of some of 
the years passed over in the preceding chapter. The district 
of country comprised in the Territories of Indiana and Up- 
per Louisiana, for a number of years after their organization, 
was too remote, too much exposed to Indian depredations, and 
too destitute of the comforts of civilized life, to attract many 
emigrants. 

Mr. Monette says : — 

Lands equally good, and much more secure from danger 
were more convenient. Hence the settlements on the Wa- 
bash, on the Illinois, on the Upper Mississippi, and near the 
Detroit river, increased in numbers slowly. The Indians still 
lingered around their houses and familiar hunting grounds, as 
if reluctant to abandon the scenes of their youth and the 
graves of their ancestors, although they had received the stip- 
ulated payment, and had consented to retire from them.* 

Mr. Lanman says of Detroit and Michigan, 1807 : — 

Enterprise had not then pushed its energies so far into the 
wilderness as in modern times, and capital floated along the 
shores of the eastern States. In fact a great portion of that 
uncultivated tract of countr}', which constitutes the splendid 
scenery of western New York, adorned, as it now is, with 
large cities and villages, and intersected by rail-roads and ca- 
nals, was a dense forest. The principal business of the set- 
tlements in Michigan was the fur trade; and the wilderness 
around, instead of revealing its treasures to the substantial 
labor of agriculture, was preserved a waste, for the propaga- 
tion of wild game, and the fur-bearing animals. 

No permanent settlements of any considerable importance 
had been made throughout this section of the country, besides 
those at Detroit, Michillimackinac, a small establishment at 
St. Mary's river. Fox river of Green Bay, Prairie du Chein, 
and certain trading posts of eastern companies, some of which 

* Valley of the Mississippi, ii. 523. 



1805. Expedition of Lieutenant Pike. 566 

are now in ruins. " Grim-visaged war had smoothed her 
wrinkled front ;" and the country which had been for so long 
a period drenched in blood, now shone out in the mild but 
glorious light of peace.* 

Amongst the occurrences of 1805, 1806 and 1807, are the 
expeditions of Lieutenant Z. M. Pike ; the first to the sources 
of the Mississippi, and the second to the sources of the Ar- 
kansas, Kanzas, Platte, and Pierre Jaune rivers, and into the 
provinces of New Spain. These expeditions were conducted 
under the order of Government, through General James Wilk- 
inson. The journals kept by Lieutenant Pike, (as his official 
title then was) were by him prepared for the press, and issued 
in octavo volume, with an atlas of maps and charts, in Phila- 
delphia, 1810. From this volume we give the following brief 
abstract: 

The party, consisting of Major Pike, " with one servant, 
two corporals and seventeen privates, in a keel boat, seventy 
feet long, provisioned for four months," left the encampment, 
near St. Louis, on the 9th of August, 1805. On the 1st of 
September they reached Dubuque, where the Spanish trader 
M. Dubuque then resided. The party reached Prairie du 
Chein on the 4th. From the Appendix to part first, (p. 46,) 
we make the following extract: — 

The present village of Prairie du Chein, was first settled in 
the year 1783, and the first settlers were M. Girard, M. An- 
taya, and M. Dubuque. The old village is about a mile be- 
low the present one, and had existed during the time the 
French were possessed of the country. It derives its name 
from a family of Reynards [Fox Indians] who formerly lived 
there, distinguished by the appellation of Dogs. The present 
village was settled under the English Government, and the 
ground was purchased from the Reynard Indians. 

There are eight houses scattered round the country, at the 
distance of one, two, three, and five miles. 

On the west side of the Mississippi are three houses, situa- 
ted on a small stream called the Giard's river, making, in the 
village and vicinity, thirty-seven houses, which it will not be 
too much to calculate ten persons each ; making the popula- 
tion three hundred and seventy souls. But this estimate will 
not answer for the spring and autumn, as there are then, at 
least five or six hundred white persons. This is owing to the 
concourse of traders and their engagees from Michillimacki- 
nac and other parts, who make this their last stage, previous 
to their launching into the savage wilderness. They again 

♦History of Michigan, 183. 



566 Expedition of Lieutenant Pike. 1805. 

meet here in the spring, on their return from their wintering 
grounds, accompanied by three or four hundred Indians, when 
they hold a fair ; the one [party] disposes of remnants of 
goods, and the other reserved peltries. 

It is astonishing there are not more murders and affrays at 
this place, as there meet such a heterogeneous mass to trade ; 
the use of spirituous liquors being in no manner restricted — 
But since the American Government has become known, such 

accidents are much less frequent than formerly. 

* * * * * * * * 

There are a few gentlemen residing at the Prairie du Cheins, 
and many others claiming that appellation; but the rivalship 
of the Indian trade, occasions them to be guilty of acts at 
their wintering grounds, which they would blush to be guilty 
of in the civilized world. They possess the spirit of generos- 
ity and hospitality in an eminent degree ; but this is the lead- 
ing feature in the character of frontier inhabitants. Their 
mode of living had obliged them to have transient connection 
with the Indian women ; and what was at first policy is now 
so confirmed by habit and inclination, that it has become (with 
a few exceptions) the ruling practice of all the traders ; and, 
in fact, almost half of the inhabitants under twenty years, 
have the blood of the aborigines in their veins. 

The party reached the St. Peters on the 22d of September. 
Here a cduncil was held with the Sioux Indians, and a tract 
of land purchased, of about one hundred thousaiid acres, for 
a military post. This eventually provided for the military 
post of St. Peters. Peace was also negotiated between the 
Sioux and Chippeways, who had been at war for many years. 
At the foot of the Falls of St. Anthony the boats were un- 
loaded, and with great difficulty and labor raised above the 
falls and again launched and reloaded. 

On the 16th of October, they met a snow storm, and soon 
after, found they could not get their boats up the rapids be- 
fore them. They were now two hundred and thirty-three 
miles above the falls of St. Anthony'. Several of the men 
were sick, and one broke a blood-vessel, and was in a dan- 
gerous state. Tlie snow continuing to fall, tiiey constructed 
log houses, excavated canoes, and provided a supply of pro- 
visions by hunting. Here the sick and a few other men of 
the party were left, while Major Pike, and the rest of the par- 
ty, attempted to proceed up the river in canoes. The attempt 
having failed, and the river being frozen, sleds were construct- 
ed on which the baggage was transported, partly on the ice, 
and partly on the lane'. After sustaining various privations 



1806. Expedition of Lieutenant Pike. 567 

and experiencing no small degree of difficulty in this inhos- 
pitable wintry region, Major Pike and his little party, with 
one or two British traders, reached Red Lake, then supposed 
to be the head of the IMississippi, about the middle of Febru- 
ary, 1806. At Lake Winipec, fifteen miles below, was a Bri- 
tish trading post, and the flag of that nation flying from the 
fort. The North-western company then had their posts in all 
this wild region. 

On the 28th of February, the party set out on their home- 
ward march, but were detained on the route by ice, and hold- 
ing "talks" with bands of Indians, so that they did not reach 
the Falls of St. Anthony until the 10th of April. At the mouth 
of the St. Peters, another council was held with the Sioux and 
Sauteurs ; a branch of the Chippeways. 

After holding conferences with several bands of Indians at 
Prairie du Chein, and other places, Major Pike and his party 
reached St. Louis, on the 30th of April, after an absence of 
eight months and twenty-two days. This w^as the first explo- 
ration ever made of the Upper Mississippi, by authority of the 
United States. The objects of the expedition were accom- 
plished, in the selection of positions for military posts, in mak- 
ing peace among hostile Indian nations, and in tracing the 
Mississippi to its source. 

The second expedition had for its primary object, the pro- 
tection and "safe delivery" of a deputation of Osages and 
some captives, to the town of the GrandOsage nation. The 
next was, to promote peace and a good understanding be- 
tvveen the Kanzas* and Osage nations, and the Yanctons, Te- 
tons and Camanches. The exploration of the country on the 
head waters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, would follow 
the efl^ort to negotiate with the Camanches. 

The party consisted of two lieutenants, one surgeon, one 
sergeant, two corporals, sixteen privates and one interpreter. 
Under their charge were several chiefs of the Osages and 
Pawnees, who, with a number of women and children, had 
been to Washington city. These Indians had been redeemed 
from captivity from among the Pottawatomies. The whole 
number of Indians amounted to fifty-one. 

The party left Belle Fontaine, near the mouth of the Mis- 
souri, on the 15th of July, 1806. In the company was Dr. 

*This i? pronouLced Kauzau, and by abbreviation, Kaw nation. 



568 Lieut. Pikers Exploration in the West. 1806. 

John II. Ptobinson, a volunteer, and a gentleman of scientific 
attainments ; a Mr. Henr}^ from New Jersey, also a volunteer, 
who spoke French, and a little Spanish, and lieutenant James 
Wilkinson, son of General Wilkinson. The Indians generally 
walked on the land. On the 28th of July they arrived at the 
mouth of the Osage river, and proceeded up that stream, to 
the village of the Grand Osages, which they reached on the 
19tli of August. Having provided horses, the party set off by 
land on the 1st of September for the heads of the Arkansas, 
holding councils with the various tribes of Indians through 
which they passed. They learned that troops from Mexico 
had visited the Pawnee villages. 

At that period there was an old trace, known as the "Span- 
ish trace," made in 1720, by a party who left Santa Fe, to ex- 
terminate the Missouries. 

Lieutenant Pike and his party, after much search, could not 
find this trace, but reached the Arkansas on the 18th of Octo- 
ber. They found the water only twenty feet wide and six 
inches deep, though from bank to bank was two hundred and 
fifty yards. Here lieutenant Wilkinson constructed canoes 
with pieces of wood and buffaloe hides, and with three sol- 
diers and an Osage, descended the river to the Mississippi, 
and from thence to New Orleans. 

Lieutenant Pike and his party proceeded onward up the 
Arkansas until they got entangled in the range of mountains 
and in the depth of a severe winter. Here they wandered, 
half frozen and half starved, until the first week in February, 
when, getting into a grove of timber in a sheltered spot, they 
proceeded to erect a stockade as a protection from the In- 
dians. 

Dr. Robinson having received claims against a certain per- 
son in iNIcxico, parted from the expedition and attempted to 
find his way alone to Santa Fe. This claim of the Doctor 
was merely a ruse to gain information of the country and the 
intentions of the Mexican Spaniards. The claim was this. 
In the year 1804, William Morrison, Esq., an enterprising 
merchant of Kaskaskia, sent Baptiste La Lande, a Creole, up 
the Missouri and Platte rivers, and directed him, if possible, 
to push into Santa Fe. He sent in some Indians, and the 
Spaniards came out with horses and carried him and his 



1806. Expedition to the Head of the Arkansas . 569 

goods into the province. Finding he could sell his goods at 
a high price, and having land and a wife offered him, he con- 
cluded to expatriate himself and convert the property of Mr. 
Morrison to his own benefit. Mr. M., supposing Lieutenant 
Pike might meet with some Spanish factor on his route, en- 
trusted him with his claim, with orders to collect it. Pike 
made this claim a pretext for the visit of Dr. Robinson to 
Santa Fe, while the real object was to gain knowledge of the 
country and people.* 

On the 16th of February, Lieutenant Pike, while out on a 
hunting excursion with one man, was discovered by a Spanish 
dragoon and a Mexican Indian, w^ho were sent out as spies. 
After a friendly interview they left, and by the 26th instant 
returned with one hundred officers and soldiers, who took the 
party prisoners. Unfortunately, being ignorant of the geo- 
graphy of the country, and having no guide, Lieutenant Pike 
was on the Rio del Norte instead of the Red river, as he sup- 
posed. He was in Mexico instead of the United States. 

After undergoing an examination before the Governor of 
Santa Fe, w^hose name was Allencaster, Lieut. Pike with his 
comrades were allowed to retain their arms, but were marched 
through Albuquerque, St. Fernandez, El Paso, to Chihauhua, 
where he underwent another examination before Governor 
Salcedo. After various embarrassments, accompanied by Dr. 
Robinson, he had leave to depart, by Monclova to San Anto- 
nio in Texas. 

The party commenced the march on the last of April and 
reached San Antonio, in Texas, where they arrived on the 7th 
of June. Here they tarried one week, and proceeding through 
Texas reached Nachitoches on the first day of July, 1807. 

This expedition, unfortunate as it was to Lieutenant Pike, 
brought to the knowledge of the United States, the plains of the 
Arkansas, and the Mexican region, a large part of which now 
belongs to the United States. 

During the year 1808, Tecumthe and the Prophet continued 
quietly to extend their influence, professing no other end than 
a reformation of the Indians. Before the month of June they 
had removed from Greenville to the banks of the Tippecanoe, 

* Pike's Expedition, p. 195. Note. 

36 



570 Pike's Expedition to New Mexico. 1807. 

a tributary of the Upper Wabash, where a tract of land had 
been granted them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. 
In July the Prophet sent to General Harrison a messenger 
begging him not to believe the tales told by his enemies, and 
promising a visit: in August, accordingly, he spent two weeks 
at Yincennes, and by his words and promises led the Governor 
to change v.ery much his previous opinion, and to think his 
influence might be beneficial rather than mischievous.* 

[To explain more fully the designs of this Chieftain, we 
quote from Brown's History of Illinois.] 

Tecumthe entered upon the great work he had long con- 
templated, in the year 1805 or 1806. He was then about 
thirty-eight years of age. To unite the several Indian tribes, 
many of which were hostile to, and had often been at war 
with each other, in this great and important undertaking, pre- 
judices were to be overcome, their original manners and cus- 
toms to be re-established, the use of ardent spirits to be 
abandoned, and all intercourse with the whites to be suspend- 
ed. The task was herculean in its character, and beset with 
difficulties on every side. Here was a field for the display of 
the highest moral and intellectual powers. He had already 
gained the reputation of a brave and sagacious warrior, and 
a cool-headed, upright, wise, and efficient counsellor. He 
was neither a war nor a peace chief, and yet he wielded the 
power and influence of both. The time havi/ig now arrived 
for action, and knowing full well, that to win savage atten- 
tion, some bold and striking movement was necessary, he 
imparted his plan to his brother, the Prophet, who adroitly 
and without a moment's dehiy, prepared himself for the part 
he was appointed to play in this great drama of savage life. 
Tecumthe well knew that excessive superstition was every- 
where a prominent trait in the Indian character; and there- 
fore, with the skill of another Cromwell, brought superstition 
to his aid. 

Suddenly, his brother began to dream dreams, and see 
visions; he became afterward an inspired prophet, favored 
with a divine commission from the Great Spirit — the power of 
life and death was placed in his hands — he was appointed 
agent for preserving the property and lands of the Indians, 
and for restoring them to their original hap])y condition. He 
thereupon commenced his sacred work. The public mind 
was aroused, unbelief gradually gave way; credulity and 
wild fanaticism began to spread its circles, widening and 
deepening, until the fame of the prophet and the divine char- 

* Dawson, lOG. 



1807. Troubles with Great Britain. 571 

acter of his mission had reached the frozen shores of the lakes, 
and overran the broad planes which stretched far beyond "the 
great Father of Waters." Pilgrims from remote tribes, sought 
with fear and trembling the head-quarters of the prophet and 
the sage. Proselytes were multiplied, and his followers in- 
creased beyond all former example. Even Tecumthe became 
a believer, and seizing upon the golden opportunity, he min- 
gled with the pilgrims, won them by his address, and on their 
return sent a knowledge of his plan of concert and union to 
the most distant tribes. 

The bodily and mental labors of Tecumthe next commenced. 
His life became one of ceaseless activity. He travelled, he 
argued, he commanded. His persuasive voice was one day 
listened to by the Wyandots, on the plains of Sandusky ; on 
the next, his commands were issued on the banks of the Wa- 
bash. He was anon seen paddling his canoe across the Mis- 
sissippi, then boldly confronting the Governor of Indiana, in 
the council-house at Vincennes. Now carrying his banner of 
union among the Creeks and Cherokees of the South, and 
from thence to the cold and inhospitable regions of the north, 
neither intoxicated by success, nor discouraged by failure. 

The year 1808, made a change in the Presidency of the 
United States, though not in political measures. Mr. Jeffer- 
son, who had administered the affairs of the country with 
pre-eminent success through two terms, and who was gene- 
rally popular throughout the west, retired to private life, and 
Mr. Madison became his successor in March, 1809. 

In order that the general reader may have a full under- 
standing of the series of events that led to the war with Great 
Britain, (the subject of our next chapter) we give the follow- 
ing preliminary facts. 

England and France, and indeed most of the European 
governments, had been in a state of hostility for some years. 
Napoleon had introduced and carried into effect what has 
been called the " Continental System.'''' This was designed to 
exclude England from all intercourse with the continent of 
Europe, All importation of English manufactures and pro- 
duce was prohibited. This system involved the rights of neu- 
tral powers, and both England and France commenced de- 
predations on the commerce of the United States. 

In November, 1806, Napoleon issued the famous decree of 
Berlin, by which the British Islands were declared to be in a 
state of blockade. Immediately England directed reprisals 



572 Ti'ouhles with Great Britain. 1808. 

against the Berlin decree, and issued her " Orders in Council" 
in 1807. Every neutral vessel with its cargo was confiscated 
which violated these orders. England also claimed the right 
to search all neutral vessels, in order to execute the orders in 
Council. With this odious practice was connected the '•' right 
of search" on neutral vessels, for British seamen, and alj 
were claimed as such, who could not show official papers of 
their birth, and regular shipment under a neutral government. 
Hundreds of naturalized citizens and even native born Amer- 
icans were thus taken under our flag and impressed on board 
of British ships of war. These " orders" were followed on 
the part of France by the decree of Milan, December, 1807, 
and a more aggravated one of the Tuilleries, in January, 
1808. 

These decrees denationalized and confiscated every neu- 
tral vessel, which had been searched by an English ship. 
These difficulties with England were greatly increased by the 
wanton attack on the frigate Chesapeake in the waters of 
the United States. This produced a call upon the militia of 
the United States. 

The Imperial decrees of France, and the aggressions of 
Great Britain, induced Congress, by recommendation of the 
President, to lay an embargo prohibiting the exportation of 
all articles from the United States, in December, 1807. This 
measure met with so much opposition that it was repealed in 
1809, and at the same time all trade and intercourse with 
France and England was prohibited by an act of Congress.* 

During the same period, British officers and traders were 
encouraging the Indians to contend for their rights, by instill- 
ing into their minds the notion that they had sovereignty over 
all the country not ceded by the treaty of Greenville. These 
lessons were relished by Tecumthe and his brother, the 
Prophet. In reference to the hostilities of 1811, but which 
had existed in feelmgs and plans at an early period, Mr. Lan- 
manf says : — 

" The basis of these hostilities was the fact that Elshwata- 
wa the Prophet, who pretended to certain supernatural pow- 
ers, had formed a league with Tecumthe, to stir up the jeal- 

* See Encyclopoedia Americana, articles, "Continental System," rol. iii. 499; and "Uni- 
t«d States' History," vol. xii. 419. Butler's Kentucky, 327. 
t History of Michigan, 184. 



1808. Remarks of Mr. Lanman. 573 

ousy of the Indians against the United States. It seems that 
this was an act of pre-concert on the part of these brothers, in 
order to produce a general confederacy of Indians against the 
United States. Mutual complaints were urged on both sides. 
It was maintained by Governor Harrison that the Indians had 
endeavored to excite insurrection against the Americans, had 
depredated upon their property, and murdered their citizens; 
and that they were, moreover, in league with the British. He 
ordered them, therefore, to return to their respective tribes, 
and to yield up the property which they had stolen, and also 
the murderers. Tecumthe, in answer, denied the league. He 
alleged that his only design, and that of his brother, was to 
strengthen the amity between the different tribes of Indians, 
and to improve their moral condition. In answer to Gover- 
nor Harrison's demand for the murderers of the whites who 
had taken refuge among their tribes, he denied that they were 
there ; and secondly, that if they were there, it was not right 
to punish them, and that they ought to be forgiven, as he had 
forgiven those who had murdered his people in Illinois. The 
Indians, comprised of seceders from the various tribes, were 
incited by the conviction that their domain was encroached 
upon by the Americans : that they were themselves superior 
to the white men ; and that the Great Spirit had directed them 
to make one mighty struggle in throwing off the dominion of 
the United States. British influence, which had before exerted 
its agency in the previous Indian war, was active on the Amer- 
ican side of the Detroit River ; and it must be admitted that it 
had strong ground of action. An ardent correspondence had 
for some time existed regarding the conduct of the savages, 
and powerful efforts were made to dissuade them from ad- 
vancing in their projects. In a speech which was sent to 
Tecumthe and his brother, complaining of injuries which had 
been committed by the Indians, and demanding redress. Gov. 
Harrison, who then resided at Vincennes, remarks, " Broth- 
ers, I am myself of the Long Knife fire ; as soon as they hear 
my voice, you will see them pouring forth their swarms of 
" hunting-shirt men," as numerous as the musquitoes on the 
shores of the Wabash. Brothers, take care of their stings." 

On the 25lh of November, Governor Hull met at Browns- 
town the Chippeways, Ottowas, Pottawatomies, Wyandots, 
and Shawanese, and obtained from them a grant of a strip of 
land connecting the Maumee with the Western Reserve, and 
another strip connecting Lower Sandusky with the country 
south of the line agreed upon in 1795. These strips were to 
be used for roads.* 

[The white settlements in Upper Louisiana, in the begin- 

* American State Papers, v. 727. 



574 Organization of Illinois Territory. 1809. 

ning of 1808, had not extended much beyond the boundaries 
claimed by the Spanish authorities in virtue of former trea- 
ties with native tribes. 

On the 10th of November of that year, a grand council of 
the nation of Osages was held at Fort Clark, on the right 
bank of the Missouri river, where a treaty was made in M'hich 
the Osages relinquish their claims to all their lands between 
the Missouri and Arkansas rivers, as far west as a line drawn 
from Fort Clark due South to the Arkansas. This treaty threw 
open the territory to settlements to this boundary. 

From 1804 to 1809, there was considerable emigration to 
the territory, especially into the counties of Cape Girardeau, 
Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis,and St. Charles. Even as early as 
1794, a German Colony was commenced in the interior of this 
county. Their descendants are among some of the first class 
of farmers in Missouri.] 

Throughout the year 1809, we find Tecumthe and his broth- 
er strengthening themselves both openly and secretly. Gov- 
ernor Harrison, however, had been once more led to suspect 
their ultimate designs, and was preparing to meet an emer- 
gency whenever it might arise. The probability of its being 
at hand was very greatly increased by the news received from 
the Upper Mississippi of hostile movements there among the 
savages. In reference to these movements and the position 
of the Shavvanese brothers. Governor Harrison wrote to the 
Secretary of War on the 5th of July as follows : 

The Shawanese prophet and about 40 followers arrived 
here about a week ago. He denies most strenuously any par- 
ticipation in the late combination to attack our settlements, 
which he says was entirely confined to the tribes of the Mis- 
sissippi and Illinois rivers ; and he claims the merit of having 
prevailed upon them to relinquish their intentions. 

I must confess that my suspicions of his guilt have been 
rather strengthened than diminished at every interview I have 
had with him since his arrival. He acknowledged tliat he re- 
ceived an invitation to war against us, from the British, last 
fall, and that he was apprised of the intention of the Sacs, 
Foxes, &c., early in the spring, and warmly solicited to join 
in their league. But he could give no satisfactory explana- 
tion of his neglecting to communicate to me circumstances so 
extremely interesting to us, and towards which, I had a few 
months before directed his attention, and received a solemn 



1809. Organization of Illinois Territory. 575 

assurance of his cheerful compliance with the injunctions I 
had impressed upon him. 

The result of all my inquiries on the subject, is, that the 
late combination was produced b}"^ British intrigue and influ- 
ence, in anticipation of war between them and the United 
States. It was, however, premature and ill-judged, and the 
event sufficiently manifests a great decline in their influence, 
or in the talents and address, with which they have been ac- 
customed to manage their Indian relations. 

The warlike and well armed tribes of the Pottawatomies, 
Ottawas, Chippewas, Delawares and Miamis, I believe neither 
had, nor would have joined in the combination ; and although 
the Kickapoos, whose warriors are better than those of any 
other tribe, the remnant of the Wyandot excepted, are much 
under the influence of the prophet, I am persuaded that they 
were never made acquainted with their intentions, if these 
were really hostile to the United States.* 

In this same letter the Governor, at the request of the Se- 
cretary, Dr. Eustis, gives his views of the defence of the fron- 
tiers, in which portion of his epistle many valuable hints are 
given in relation to the course proper to be pursued in case of 
a war with England. 

In September, October and December, the Governor of In- 
diana succeeded in extinguishing the claims of the Delawares, 
Pottawatomies, Miamies, Eel river Indians, Weas, and Kicka- 
poos, to certain lands upon the Wabash which had not yet 
been purchased, and which were believed to contain copper 
ore t 

The treaties with the Delawares, Pottawatomies, Miamies, 
and Eel river Indians, were made at Fort Wayne ; the others 
at Vincennes ; they were protested against by Tecumthe in 
the following year. 

On the I7th of February the Legislature of Ohio passed 
the charter of the Miami University. With regard to this in- 
stitution, a question at once arose, whether it should be with- 
in Symmes' Purchase, as it had been originally intended it 
should be, and as the charter required ; or placed upon the 
lands with which it was endowed, — which lands it had been 
found necessary to select out of the Purchase, as has been al- 
ready related. The Legislature decided that the University 

*Daw8on, 130. 

-j- American State Papers, v. 700, to 763. Dawson, 135 to 137. 



576 Organization of Illinois Territory. 1809. 

should be upon the lands which had been appropriated to its 
support in the township of Oxford, and there accordingly it 
was placed. J 

[One of the events of 1809, which claims special notice, 
was the organization of the Territory of Illinois. 

The people of Illinois, as has happened to others more re- 
cently, at several periods were left without a regularly consti- 
tuted government. Originally it was a portion of ancient 
Louisiana, under the French monarchy. By the treaty of 
France with Great Britain in 1763, all Canada, including the 
Illinois country, was ceded to the latter power. 

But British authority and laws did not reach Illinois until 
1765, when Captain Sterling, in the name, and by the author- 
ity of the British crown, established the provisional govern- 
ment at Fort Chartres. 

In 1766, the "Quebec Bill," as it was called, passed the Bri- 
tish Parliament, which placed Illinois and the North-western 
territory under the local administration of Canada. 

The conquest of the country by General Clark in 177S> 
brought it under the jurisdiction of Virginia, and in the month 
of October the Legislature of that State organized the county 
of Illinois. 

The cession of the country to the Continental Congress was 
made in 1784, and the ordinance to organize the North-west- 
ern Territory, which provided for aT erritorial Government, 
was not passed until 1787, and the Governor and Judges who 
exercised, in one body, Legislative and Judicial authority, did 
not go into operation until July, 1788. Still the Illinois coun- 
try remained without any organized government till IMarch, 
1790, when Governor St. Clair organized the county that 
bears his name. Hence, for more than six years at one pe- 
riod, and for a shorter time at other periods, there was no 
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial authority in the country. 
The people were a " law unto themselves," and good feel- 
ings, harmony and fidelity to engagements predominated. 

From 1800 they had been a part of the territory of Indi- 
ana. In all the territories at that period, there were two grades 
of Territorial Government. The first was that of Governor 
and Judges. These constituted the law-making power. Such 

X Burnett's Letters, 155, 156. — American Pioneer, i. 269. 



1809 Organization of Illinois Territory. 577 

was the organization of Illinois in 1809. The next grade wa 
a Territorial Legislature; the people electing the House of 
Representatives, and the President and Senate appointing the 
Council. 

By an act of Congress of February 3d, 1809, all that part of 
Indiana Territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a 
direct line drawn from that river and Post Vincennes, due 
north, to the territorial line between the United States 
and Canada, was constituted into a separate Territory, by the 
name of Illinois; and the first grade of Territorial Govern- 
ment was established. 

Hon. Ninian Edwards, then Chief Justice of Kentucky, 
was appointed Governor, and Nathaniel Pope, Esq., then a 
resident of Kaskaskia, Secretary of the Territory. 

Early in March, as the acting Governor, Judge Pope organ- 
ized the Territory. Governor Edwards arrived from Ken- 
tucky and entered the Executive department in the month of 
June. As we have much to bring up in the Annals of Illinois, 
we shall defer details for the Appendix. 

The hostile intentions of Tecumthe and his followers to- 
wards the United States, were placed beyond adoubtin 1810. 
The exciting causes were — the purchase at Fort Wayne in 
1809, which the Shawanese denounced as illegal and unjust; 
and British influence. And here, as in 1790 to 1795, it is al- 
most impossible to learn what really was the amount of 
British influence, and whence it proceeded ; whether from the 
agents merely, or from higher authority. On the one hand 
we have many assertions like the following: — 

Fort Wayne, August 7, 1818. 

Since writing you on the 25th ultimo, about one hundred 
men of the Saukies have returned from the British agent, 
who supplied them liberally with every thing they stood in 
want of The party received 47 rifles, and a number of fusils, 
with plenty of powder and lead. This is sending firebrands 
into the Mississippi country, inasmuch as it will draw num- 
bers of our Indians to the British side, in the hope of being 
treated with the same liberality. 

JOHN JOHNSTON, Indian Agent. 

Vincennes, September, 17, 1811. 

states that almost every Indian from the country 

above this had been, or were then gone to Maiden, on a visit 



578 Assistance given the Indians by England. 1810. 

to the British agent. We shall probably gain our destined 
point at the moment of their return. If, then, the British 
agents are really endeavoring to instigate the Indians to 
make war upon us, we shall be in their neighborhood at the 
very moment when the impressions which have been made 
against us are most active in the minds of the savages. 

• succeeded in getting the chiefs together at Fort 

AVayne, though he found them all preparing to go to Maiden. 
The result of the council discovered that the whole tribes (in- 
cluding the Weas and Eel rivers, for they are all jMiamies,) 
were about equally divided in favor of the Prophet and the 
United States. Lapousicr, the Wea chief, whom I before 
mentioned to you as being seduced by the Prophet, was re- 
peatedly asked by what land it was that he was de- 
termined to defend with his blood ; whether it was that which 
was ceded by the late treaty or not, but he would give no an- 
swer] 

reports that all the Indians of the Wabash have 

been, or now are, on a visit to the British agents at Maiden. 
He had never known one-fourth as many goods given to the 
Indians, as they are now distributing. He examined the share 
of one man (not a chief,) and found that he had received an 
elegant rifle, 25 pounds of powder, 50 pounds of lead, 3 
blankets, 3 strouds of cloth, 10 shirts and several other articles. 
He says every Indian is furnished with a gun (either rifle 
or fusil) and an abundance of ammunition. A trader of 
this country was lately in the King's stores at Maiden, 
and was told that the quantity of goods for the Indian 
department, which had been sent out this year, exceeded that 
of common years by 20,000 pounds sterling. It is impossible 
to ascribe this profusion to any other motive than that of in- 
stigating the Indians to take up the tomahawk. It cannot be 
to secure their trade ; for all the peltry collected on the wa- 
ters of the Wabash in one year, if sold in the London market, 
would not pay the freight of the goods which have been given 
to the Indians.* 

On the other hand we know that Sir James Craig, the Gov- 
ernor of Canada, wrote on the 25th of November, 1810, to 
Mr. Morier, the British Minister at Washington, authorizing 
him to inform the United States Government that the north- 
ern savages were meditating hostilities :t we know also that 
in the following March, Sir James wrote to Lord Liverpool 
in relation to the Indians, and spoke of the information he 
had given the Americans, and that his conduct was approv- 

* American State Papers, v. 799, 801 to 801. 

tAiuericau State Papers, iii. 453. — Gaston in Congress; quoted by Dawson, 175. 



1810. Assistance given the Indians by England. 579 

ed ;* we have farther the repeated denial by the English Min- 
ister at Washington, of any influence having been exerted over 
the frontier tribes adverse to the States, by the authority, or 
with the knowledge of the English Ministry or the Governor of 
Canada. t These things, we think, must lead us to acquit the 
rulers of Great Britain, but they do not show who, nor how 
high in authority the functionaries were who tried, as Tecum- 
the told Harrison, to set the red men, as dogs, upon the whites 
But, however we may think the evil influence originated, 
certain it is that the determination was taken by " the succes- 
sor of Pontiac," to unite all the western tribes in hostility to 
the United States, in case that power would not give up the 
lands bought at Fort Wayne, and undertake to recognize the 
principle, that no purchases should be thereafter made unless 
from a Council representing all the tribes united as one na- 
tion. By various acts the feelings of Tecum the became more 
and more evident, but in August, he having visited Vincennes 
to see the Governor, a Council was held at which, and at 
a subsequent interview, the real position of aflairs was clear- 
ly ascertained — of that Council we give the account contain- 
ed in Mr. Drake's life of the Great Chieftain. 

Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the l 
Council on the portico of his own house, which had been , 
fitted up with seats for the occasion. Here, on the morning 
of the fifteenth, he awaited the arrival of the chief, being at- 
tended by the judges of the Supreme Court, some officers of 
the army, a sergeant and twelve men, from Fort Knox, and a 
large number of citizens. At the appointed hour Tecumthe, 
supported by forty of his principal warriors, made his ap- 
pearance, the remainder of his followers being encamped in 
the village and its environs. When the chief had approach- 
ed within thirty or forty yards of the house, he suddenly stop- 
ped, as if awaiting some advances from the Governor. An 
interpreter was sent requesting him and his followers to take 
seats on the portico. To this Tecumthe objected — he did not 
think the place a suitable one for holding the conference, but 
preferred that it should take place in a grove of trees — to 
which he pointed — standing a short distance from the house. 
The Governor said he had no objection to the grove, except 
that there were no seats in it for their accommodation. Te- 
cumthe replied, that constituted no objection to the grove, the 
earth being the most suitable place for the Indians, who lov- 

• American State Papers, ii.. 462. 
fAmerican State Papers, 453, iii. 453, 462. 



580 Tecumthe meets Hai-nson in Council. tSlO. 

ed to repose upon the bosom of their mother. The governor 
yielded the point, and the benches and chairs having been 
removed to the spot, the conference Nvas begun, the Indians 
being seated on the grass. 

Tecumthe opened the meeting by stating, at length, his ob- 
jections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, made by Governor Har- 
rison in the previous year ; and in the course of his speech, 
boldly avowed the principle of his party to be, that of resis- 
tance to every cession of land, unless made by all the tribes, 
who, he contended, formed but one nation. He admitted 
that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the 
treaty of Fort Wayne ; and that it was his fixed determina- 
tion not to permit the village chiefs, in future, to manage their 
affairs, but to place the power with which they had been 
heretofore invested, in the hands of the war chiefs. The 
Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea coast, 
and would soon push them into the lakes; and, while he dis- 
claimed all intention of making war upon the United States, 
he declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, 
and resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon 
the Indian lands. He concluded, by making a brief but im- 
passioned recital of the various wrongs and aggressions in- 
dicted by the white men upon the Indians, from the commence- 
ment of the revolutionary war down to the period of that 
Council; all of which was calculated to arouse and inflame 
the minds of such of his followers as were present. 

To him the Governor replied, and having taken his seat, 
the interpreter commenced explaining the speech to Tecum- 
the, who, after listening to a portion of it, sprung to his feet 
and began to speak with great vehemence of manner. 

The Governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but as 
he did not understand him, thought he was making some ex- 
planation, and suffered his attention to be drawn towards 
Winncmac, a friendly Indian lying on the grass before him, 
who was renewing the priming of his pistol, which he had 
kept concealed from the other Indians, but in full view of the 
Governor. His attention, however, was again directed to- 
wards Tecumthe, by hearing General Gibson, who was inti- 
mately acquainted with the Shawanee language, say to Lieu- 
tenant .Jennings, "those fellows intend mischief; you had 
better bring up the guard." At that moment, the followers of 
Tecumthe seized their tomahawks and war clubs, and sprung 
upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the Governor. As 
soon as he could disengage himself from the arm choir in 
which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by 
liisside, and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of 
the army, who stood near him, drew a dirk, and the chief 
Winncmac cocked his pistol. The citizens present were more 
numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed; some of them 



1811. Building of Fort Harrison. 581 

procured clubs and brick-bats, and also stood on the defen- 
sive. The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist church, ran 
to the Governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself at ( 
the door to defend the family. During this singular scene, ' 
no one spoke, until the guard came running up, and appear- 
ing to be in the act of firing, the Governor ordered them not 
to do so. He then demanded of the interpreter, an explana- 
tion of what had happened, who replied that Tecumthe had 
interrupted him, declaring that all the Governor had said 
was false ; and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheat- 
ed and imposed on the Indians. 

The Governor then told Tecumthe that he was a bad man, 
and that he would hold no further communication with him; 
that as he had come to Vincennes under the protection of 
a Council-fire, he might return in safety, but that he must 
immediately leave the village. Here the Council termina- 
ted. 

The now undoubted purposes of the Brothers being of a 
character necessarily leading to war, Governor Harrison pro- 
ceeded to strengthen himself for the contest by preparing 
the militia, and posting the regular troops that were with 
him, under Captains Posey and Cross, at Vincennes*. 

Messengers were sent out as proposed, and deputations 
from the natives followed, promising peace and compliance, 
but the Governor, having received his reinforcements, com- 
menced his proposed progress. On the 5th of Oct. he was 
on the Wabash, sixty or sixty-five miles above Vincennes, at 
which point he built "Fort Harrison." Here one of his senti- 
nels was fired upon, and news were received from the friendly 
Delawares which made the hostile purposes of the Prophet 
plain. The Governor then determined to move directly upon \ 
Tippecanoe, still offering peace, however. Upon the Slst of 
October he was near the mouth of the Vermillion river, where 
he built a block-house for the protection of his boats, and a 
place of deposite for his heavy baggage ; from that point he 
advanced without interruption into the immediate vicinity of 
the Prophet's town, where he was met by ambassadors; he 
told them he had no hostile intentions in case the Indians 
were true to existing treaties, and made preparations to 
encamp.f 

In a few moments the man who had been with me before 
made his appearance. I informed him that my object for the 

* Dawson's Historical Narrative, 139, 160, 170, 173.— Drake's Life of Tecumthe, 125. 
t Dawson, 192, 199, and 203. Am erican State Papers, t. 776. 



582 Battle of Tippecanoe. 1811. 

present was to procure a good piece of ground to encamp on, 
where we could get wood and water; he informed me that 
there was a creek to the northwest which he thought would 
suit our purpose. 1 immediately despatched two officers to 
examine it, and they reported that the situation was excel- 
lent. I then took leave of the chief, and a mutual promise 
was again made for a suspension of hostilities until we could 
have an interview on the following day. I found the ground 
destined lor the encampment not altogether such as 1 could 
wish it — it was indeed admirably calculated for the encamp- 
ment of regular troops, that were opposed to regulars, but it 
afl'orded great facility to the approach of savages. It was a 
piece of dry oak land, rising about ten feet above the level 
of a marshy prairie in front (to\\ards the Indian town) and 
nearly twice that height above a similar prairie in the rear, 
through which and near to this bank, ran a small stream 
clothed with willows and brushwood. Towards the left Hank 
this bench of high land widened considerably, but became 
gradually narrow^ in the opposite direction, and at the dis- 
tance of one hundred and Hfty yards from the right flank, 
terminated in an abrupt point. The tw'o columns of infan- 
try occupied the front and rear of this ground, at the^distance 
of about one hundred and fifty yards from each other on the 
left, and something more than half that distance on the right 
flank — these flanks were filled up, the first by two companies 
of mounted riflemen amounting to about one hundred and 
twenty men, under the command of Major-Gencral Wells, of 
the Kentucky militia, who served as a Major; the other by 
Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, which amounted to 
eighty men. The front line was cmposed of one battalion of 
United States' infantry under the command of JNIajor Floyd, 
flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the 
left by one company. The rear line was composed of a bat- 
tallion of United States' troops under the command of Capt. 
Bean, acting as major, and four companies of militia infantry 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. The regular troops of this 
line joined the mounted riflemen under General Wells on the 
left llank, and Col. Deckers battalion formed an angle with 
Spencer's company on the left. 

Two troops of dragoons, amounting to, in the aggregate, 
about sixty men, were encamped in the rear of the kit flank, 
.and Capt. Parke's troop, which was larger than the other 
two, in the rear of the front line. Our order of encampment 
varied little from that abvive described, excepting when some 
peculiarity of the ground made it necessary. For anight at- 
tack the order of encampment was the order of battle, and 
each man slept immediately opposite to his post in the line. 
In the formation of my troops, 1 used a single rank, or what is 
called Indian file— because in Indian warfare where there is no 



1811. Battle of Tippecanoe. 583 

shock to resist, one rank is nearly as good as two, and in that 
kind of warfare the extension of line is of the first impor- 
tance. Raw troops also manoBUvre with much more facility 
in single than ^in double ranks. It was my constant custom 
to assemble all the field officers at my tent every evening by 
single, to give them the watchword and their instructions for 
the night — those given for the night of the 6th were, that 
each troop which formed a part of the exterior line of the 
encampment, should hold its own ground until relieved. The 
dragoons were ordered to parade in case of a night attack, 
with their pistols in their belts, and to act as a corps de reserve. 
The camp was defended by two captains' guards, consisting 
each of four non-commissioned officers and forty-two privates ; 
and two subalterns' guards of twenty non-commissioned of- 
ficers and privates. The whole under the command of afield 
officer of the day. The troops were regularly called up an 
hour before day, and made to continue under arms until it 
was quite light. On the morning of the 7th, 1 had risen at a 
quarter after four o'clock, and the signal for calling out the 
men would have been given in two minutes, when the attack 
commenced. It began on our left flank — but a signal gun 
was fired by the sentinels or by the guard in that direction, 
which made not the least resistance, but abandoned their 
officer and fled into camp, and the first notice which the 
troops of that flank had of the danger, was from the yells of 
the savages within a short distance of the line — but even 
under those circumstances the men were not wanting to them- 
selves or the occasion. Such of them as were awake, or 
were easily awakened, seized their arms and took their sta- 
tions; others which were more tardy, had to contend with the 
enemy in the doors of their tents. The storm first fell upon 
Capt. Barton's company of the 4th U. S. regiment, and Capt. 
Geiger's company of mounted riflemen, which formed the left 
angle of the rear line. The fire upon these was exceedingly 
severe, and they suflered considerabl}^ before relief could be 
brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encamp- 
ment near the angle, and one or two penetrated to some dis- 
tance before they were killed. I believe all the other compa- 
nies were under arms and tolerably formed before they were 
fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy; our fires afforded 
a partial light, which, if it gave us some opportunity of taking 
our positions, was still more advantageous to the enemy, af- 
fording them the means of taking a surer aim ; they were 
therefore extinguished. Under all these discouraging circum- 
stances, the troops (19 20ths of whom never had been in ac- 
tion before) behaved in a manner that can never l)e too much 
applauded. They took their places without noise and less 
confusion than could have been expected from veterans placed 
in the same situation. As soon as I could mount my horse, I 



584 Battle of Tippecanoe. 1811. 

rode to the angle that was attacked — I found that Barton's 
company had suffered severely and the left ofGeiger's entire- 
ly broken. 1 immediately ordered Cook's company and the 
late Capt. Wentworth's, under Lieut. Peters, to be brought up 
from the centre of the rear line, where the ground was much 
more defensible, and formed across the angle in support of 
Barton's and Geiger's. My attention was then engaged by a 
heavy firing upon the left of the front line, where were sta- 
tioned the small company of United States' riflemen (then, 
however, armed with muskets) and the companies of liean, 
Snelling, and Prcscott of the 4th regiment. I found Major 
Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, 
*and understanding that the heaviest part of the enemy's fire 
proceeded from some trees about fifteen or twenty paces in 
front of those companies, I directed the major to dislodge them 
with apart of the dragoons. Unfortunately the Major's gal- 
lantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller 
force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid 
him in front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally 
Wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were, how- 
ever, immediately and gallantly dislodged from their advan- 
tageous position, by Capt. Snelling, at the head of his compa- 
ny. In the course of a few minutes after the commencement 
of the attack, the fire extended along the left flank, the whole 
of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. Upon 
Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's com- 
pany, which was posted on the riglit of the rear line, it was 
excessively severe : Capt. Spencer and his first and second 
lieutenants, were killed, and Captain Warwick was mortally 
wounded — those companies, however, still bravely maintained 
their posts, but Spencer had suflered so severely, and having 
originally too much ground to occupy, I reinforced them with 
llobb's company of riflemen, which had been driven, or by mis- 
take ordered from their position on the left flank, towards the 
centre of the carap, and filled the vacancy that had been oc- 
cupied by Robb with Prescott's company of the 4th United 
States' regiment. My great object was to keep the lines en- 
tire, to prevent the enemy from breaking into the camp until 
daylight, which should enable me to make a general and ef- 
fectual charge. With this view, I had reinforced every part 
of the line that had suflered much; and as soon as the ap- 
proach of morning discovered itself, I withdrew from the front 
line, Snelling's, Posey's (under Lieut. Albright,) aad Scott's, 
and from the rear line, Wilson's companies, and drew them up 
upon the left flank, and at the same time, I ordered Cook's 
and Bean's companies, the former from the rear, and the lat- 
ter from the front line, to reinlorce the right flank; forseeing 
that at these points the enemy would make their last efforts. 
]Maj. Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing 



1811. Battle of Tippecanoe. 585 

my intentions precisely, had taken command of these compa- 
nies, had charged the enemy before I had formed the body of 
dragoons with which I meant to support the infantry ; a small 
detachment of these were, however, ready, and proved amply 
sufficient for the purpose. The Indians were driven by the 
infantry, at the point of the bayonet, and the dragoons pursued' 
and forced them into a marsh, where they could not be followed. 
Capt. Cook and Lieut. Larabee had, agreeable to my order, 
marched their companies to the right flank, had formed them 
under the fire of the enemy, and being then joined by the 
riflemen of that flank, had charged the Indians, killed a num- 
ber, and put the rest to precipitate flight. A favorable oppor- 
tunity was here offered to pursue the enemy with dragoons, 
but being engaged at that time on the other flank, I did not 
observe it till it was too late. 

I have thus, sir, given you the particulars of an action, 
which was certainly maintained with the greatest obstinacy 
and perseverance, by both parties. The Indians manifested a 
ferocity uncommon even with them — to their savage fury our 
troops opposed that cool, and deliberate valor, which is char- 
acteristic of the Christian solder.* 

The Americans in this battle had not more than 700 effi- 
cient men, — non-commissioned officers and privates ; the In- 
dians are believed to have had 700 or 1000 warriors. The 
loss of the American army was 37 killed on the field, 25 mor- 
tally wounded, and 126 wounded; that of the Indians about 
forty killed on the spot, the number of wounded being un- 
known. 

Governor Harrison, although very generally popular, had 
enemies, and after the battle of Tippecanoe they denounced 
him, 1st, for suffering the Indians to point out his camping 
ground ; 2d, for allowing himself to be surprised by his ene- 
my ; and 3d, because he sacrificed either Daviess or Owen, 
(accounts differed) by placing one or the other on a favorite 
white horse of his own, which caused the savages to make 
the rider an especial mark. To these charges elaborate re- 
plies have been made : we cannot do more than say, to the 
1st, that although as Harrison relates, the Indians pointed out 
the creek upon which was the site of his encampment, his 
own officers found, examined, and approved that particular 
site, and other military men have since approved their selec- 
tion ; to the 2d, the only reply needed is, that the facts were 

^American State Papers, t. 777, 778. 

37 



586 Great Earthquake. 1811. 

just as stated in the dispatch we have quoted; and to the 
3d, that Daviess was killed on foot, and Owen on a horse not 
General Harrison's : the last story probably arose from the 
fact that Taylor, a fellow aid of Owen, was mounted on a 
horse of the Governor's ; but Taylor w^as not killed, though 
the horse he rode was. 

The battle»of Tippecanoe was fought upon the 7th of No- 
vember, and upon the 4th of the following month Harrison 
writes that the frontiers never enjoyed more perfect repose ; 
though it seems to be clear that the disposition to do mischief 
was by no means extinguished among the savages.* 

During this year two events took place, beside the battle of 
Tippecanoe, which make it especially noticeable in the history 
of the West ; the one was, the building of the steamer New 
Orleans, the first boat built beyond the Alleghanies ; the other 
was the series of Earthquakes which destroyed New Madrid, 
and affected the whole valley. Of the latter event, we give 
the following description from the pen of Dr. Hildreth.f 

The centre of its violence was thought to be near the Little 
Prairie, twenty-five or thirty miles below New Madrid ; the 
vibrations from which were felt all over the valley of the 
Ohio, as high up as Pittsburgh. The first shock was felt in 
the night of the l6th of December, 1811, and was repeated 
at intervals, with decreasing violence, into February follow- 
ing. New Madrid, having suffered more than any other town 
on the Mississippi from its effects, was considered as situated 
near the focus Irom whence the undulations proceeded. 

From an eye-witness, who was then about forty miles be- 
low that town, in a flat boat, on his way to New Orleans 
with a load of produce, and who narrated the scene to me, 
the agitation which convulsed the earth and the waters of the 
mighty Mississippi filled every living creature with horror. 
The first shock took place in the night, while the boat was 
lying at the sliorc in company with several others. At this 
period there was danger apprehended from the southern In- 
dians, it being soon after the battle of Tippecanoe, and for 
safety several boats kept in company, for mutual defence in 
case of an attack. In the middle of the night there was a 
a terrible shock and jarring of the boats, so that the crews 

• Dawson 204 to 208.— McAffee's History of tlic Wiir., IS to .38.-^Tadd and Drake's 
account, 34 to 37.— Cist's Miscellany, ii. 298. — American State Papers, v. 779. 

t In Carey's Museum for April 1789, p. 3fi3, is an account of the Great Earthquake of 
1727.— On thoso of 1811, see also Senator Linn'* letter in Wetmore's Missouri Gazetteer, 
(St Louia, 1337,) 134 to 142.— Drake's Picture of Cincinnati.— FUnt's Recollections. 



1811. Great Earthquake. 58 7 

were all awakened and hurried on deck with their weapons 
of defence in their hands, thinking the Indians were rushing 
on board. The ducks, geese, swans, and various other aquatic 
birds, whose numberless flocks were quietly resting in the ed- 
dies of the river, were thrown into the greatest tumult, and 
with loud screams expressed their alarm in accents of terror. 
The noise and commotion soon became hushed, and nothing 
could be discovered to excite apprehension, so that the boat- 
men concluded that the shock was occasioned by the falling 
in of a large mass of the bank of the river near them. As 
soon as it was light enough to distinguish objects, the crews 
were all up making ready to depart. Directly a loud roaring 
and hissing was heard, like the escape of steam from a boiler, 
accompanied by the most violent agitation of the shores and 
tremendous boiling up of the waters of the Mississippi in huge 
swells, rolling the waters below back on the descending 
stream, and tossing the boats about so violently that the men 
with difficulty could keep on their feet. The sandbars and 
points of the islands gave way, swallowed up in the tumultu- 
ous bosom of the river ; carrying down with them the cotton- 
wood trees, cracking and crashing, tossing their arms to and 
fro, as if sensible of their danger, while they disappeared be- 
neath the flood. The water of the river, M^hich the day be- 
fore was tolerably clear, being rather low, changed to a red- 
dish hue, and became thick with mud throvi^n up from its bot- 
tom ; while the surface, lashed violently by the agitation of 
the earth beneath, was covered with foam, which, gathering 
into masses the size of a barrel, floated along on the trem- 
bling surface. The earth on the shores opened in wide fis- 
sures, and closing again, threw the water, sand and mud, in 
huge jets, higher than the tops of the trees. The atmosphere 
was filled with a thick vapor or gas, to which the light im- 
parted a purple tinge, altogether different in appearance from 
the autumnal haze of Indian summer, or that of smoke. 
From the temporary check to the current, by the heaving 
up of the bottom, the sinking of the banks and sandbars into 
the bed of the stream, the river rose in a few minutes five or 
six feet ; and, impatient of the restraint, again rushed for- 
ward with redoubled impetuosity, hurrying along the boats, 
now set loose by the horror-struck boatmen, as in less danger 
on the water than at the shore, where the banks threatened 
every moment to destroy them by the falling earth, or 
carry them down in the vortices of the sinking masses. 
Many boats were overwhelmed in this manner, and their 
crews perished with them. It required the utmost exertions 
of the men to keep the boat, of which my informant was the 
owner, in the middle of the river, as far from the shores, sand- 
bars and islands as they could. Numerous boats were 
wrecked on the snags and old trees thrown up from the bot- 



588 Great Earthquake. 1811. 

torn of the Mississippi, where they had quietly rested for ages, 
while others were sunk or stranded on the sandbars and Is- 
lands. At New Madrid several boats were carried by the re- 
flux of the current into a small stream that puts into the 
river just above the town, and left on the ground by the re- 
turning water a considerable distance from the Mississippi. 
A man who belonged to one of the company boats was left 
for several hours on the upright trunk of an old snag in the 
middle of the river, against which his boat was wrecked and 
sunk. It stood with the roots a few feet above the water, 
and to these he contrived to attach himself, while every fresh 
shock threw the agitated waves against him, and kept gradu- 
ally settling the tree deeper into the mud at the bottom, bringing 
him nearer and nearer to the deep muddy waters, which, to his 
terrified imagination, seemed desirous of swallowing him up. 
While hanging here, calling with piteous shouts for aid, seve- 
ral boats passed by without being able to relieve him, until 
finally a skiif was well manned, rowed a short distance above 
him, and dropped down stream close to the snag, from which 
he tumbled into the boat as she floated by. The scenes which 
occurred for several days, during the repeated shocks, were 
horrible. The most destructive took place in the beginning, 
although they were repeated for many weeks, becoming 
lighter and lighter until they died away in slight vibra- 
tions, like the jarring of steam in an immense boiler. The 
sulphurated gases that were discharged during the shocks, 
tainted the air with their noxious elfluvia, and so strongly im- 
pregnated the water of the river, to the distance of one hun- 
dred and fifty miles below, that it could hardly be used for 
any purpose for a number of days. New Madrid, which 
stood on a bluff' bank, fifteen or twenty feet above the sum- 
mer floods, sunk so low that the next rise covered it to the 
depth of five feet. The bottoms of several fine lakes in the 
vicinity were elevated so as to become dry land, and have 
since been planted with corn !* 

[To this interesting sketch by Dr. Ilildreth, we append a 
few particulars. 

In the town of Cape Girardeau, were several edifices of 
stone and brick. The walls of these buildings were cracked, 
in some instances from the ground to the top, and wide fis- 
sures were left. 

The '• great shake," as the people called it, was so severe 
in the county of St. Louis, that the fowls fell from the trees 
as if dead ; crockery fell from the shelves and was broken, 

* American Pioneer, i. 129. 



1811. Great Earthquake. 589 

and many families left their cabins, from fear of being crushed 
beneath their ruins. 

Mr. Bradbury, an English scientific explorer, was on a 
keel boat passing down the river at the time. On the night 
of the 14th they called at New Madrid for some necessary 
supplies. The writer says : — 

"I was much disappointed in this place, as I found only 
a few straggling houses, situated round a plain of from two 
to three hundred acres in extent. There are only two stores, 
and those very indifferently furnished." 

On the night of the 15th, the keel boat was moored to a 
small Island, not far from Little Prairie, where the crew, all 
Frenchmen, were frightened, almost to helplessness, by the 
terrible convulsions. 

Mr. B. says: — 

"Immediately after the shock, we noticed the time, and 
found it near two o'clock. In half an hour another shock 
came on, terrible indeed, but not equal to the first." [This 
shock made a chasm in the Island, four feet wide and eighty 
yards in length. After noticing successive shocks, the writer 
states :] — " I had already noticed that the sound which w^as 
heard at the time of every shock, always preceded it at least 
a second, and that it always proceeded from the same point, 
and went off in an opposite direction. 1 now found that the 
shock came from a little northward of east, and proceeded to 
the westward. At daylight we had counted twenty-seven 
shocks, during our stay on the Island.* 

Mr. B. records a series of shocks that continued daily, as 
he passed down the river, until the 21st of December. 

The late Hon. L. F. Linn, in a letter to the Hon. Mr. Da- 
vis, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, dated Febru- 
ary 1st, 1836, "relative to the obstructions to the navigation 
of the White, Big Black, and St. Francis rivers," has given a 
lucid geographical and descriptive sketch of this part of Mis- 
souri, from which we have room for a brief extract. 

" The memorable earthquake of December, 1811, after shak- 
ing the valley of the Mississippi to its centre, vibrated along 
the courses of the rivers and valleys, and passing the primi- 
tive mountain barriers, died away along the shores of the At- 
lantic Ocean. In the region now under consideration, during 
the continuance of so appalling a phenomenon, which com- 

* Travels in the Interior of Americaj by John Bradbury, pp. 199 to 207. 



590 Great Earthquake. 1811. 

menced by distant rumbling sounds, succeeded by discharges 
as if a thousand pieces of artillery were suddenly exploded, 
the earth rocked to and fro, vast chasms opened, from whence 
issued columns of water, sand, and coal, accompanied by hiss- 
ing sounds, caused, perhaps, by the escape of pent-up steam, 
while ever and anon flashes of electricity gleamed through the 
troubled clouds of night, rendering the darkness doubly hor- 
rible. The current of the Mississippi, pending this elemental 
strife, was driven back upon its source with the greatest ve- 
locity for several hours, in consequence of an elevation of 
its bed. But this noble river was not thus to be stayed in 
its course. Its accumulated M'aters came booming on, and, 
o'erlopping the barrier thus suddenly raised, carried every- 
thing before them with resistless power. Boats, then float- 
ing on its surface, shot down the declivity like an arrow from 
a bow, amid roaring billows and the wildest commotion. A 
few days' action of its powerful current sufficed to wear 
away every vestige of the barrier thus strangely interposed, 
and its waters moved on in their wonted channel to the 
ocean. The day that succeeded this night of terror brought 
no solace in its dawn. Shock followed shock ; a dense black 
cloud of vapor overshadowed the land, through which no 
struggling sunbeam found its wa}" to cheer the desponding 
heart of man, who, in silent communion with himself, was 
compelled to acknowledge his weakness and dependence on 
the everlasting God. The appearances that presented them- 
selves after the subsidence of the principal commotion were 
such as strongly support an opinion heretofore advanced. 
Hills had disappeared, and lakes were found in their stead ; 
and numerous lakes became elevated ground, over the surface 
of which vast heaps of sand were scattered in every direction, 
while in many places the earth for miles was sunk below the 
general level of the surrounding country, without being cov- 
ered with water, leaving an impi-cssion in miniatiwe of a catas- 
trophe much more important in its effects, which had,per}iap$,j)rc- 
cedcd it ages before. One of the lakes formed on this occasion 
is sixty or seventy miles in length, and from three to twenty 
in breadth. It is in some places very shallow ; in others from 
fifty to one hundred feet deep, which is much more than the 
depth of the Mississippi river in that quarter. In sailing over 
its surface in the light canoe, the voyager is struck with as- 
tonishment at beholding the giant trees of the forest standing 
partially exposed amid a waste of waters, branchless and 
leafless. But the wonder is still further increased on casting 
the eye on the dark-blue profound, to observe cane-brakes 
covering its bottom, over which a mammoth species of testu- 
do is seen dragging his slow length along, while countless 
myriads of fish are sporting through the aquatic thickets.]* 

* YTetmore's Gazetteer, p. 139, 140. 



1811. First Western Steamer. 591 

In the midst of this terrible convulsion, the first of western 
steamers was pursuing her way toward the south. But before 
we give a sketch of her progress, let us re-call to the minds 
of our readers the previous steps taken in regard to steam 
navigation. 

In 1781, the invention of Watts' double-acting engine was 
made public ; and in 1781 it was perfected.* Previous to this 
time many attempts had been made to apply steam to navi- 
gation, but, from want of a proper engine, all had been fail- 
ures ; and the first efforts to apply the new machine to boats 
were made in America by John Fitch and James Rumsey. 
The conception by Fitch, if we may trust the statement made 
by Robert Wickliffe, was formed as early as June, 1780, ante- 
rior to the announcement of Watts' discovery of the double- 
acting engine, though eleven years after his single engine had 
been patented. 

This conception Fitch said he communicated to Rumsey. 
The latter gentleman, however, proposed a plan so entirely 
different from that of his fellow countrymen, (a plan which 
he is said to have originated in 1782, or '83,) that we cannot 
think him a plagiarist. The idea of steam navigation was 
not new; it was the question, — How shall we use the steam? 
which was to be so answered as to immortalize the successful 
respondent : — and to this question Fitch replied. By using 
Watts' engine so as to propel a system of paddles at the sides 
of the boat ; while Rumsey said, By applying the old atmos- 
pheric engine to pump up water at the bow and force it out 
at the stern of your vessel, and so drive her by water acting 
upon water. Referring our readers, therefore, to the authori- 
ties quoted below, relative to Fitch and others, we must be 
content with saying that all failed until Fulton, in 1807, 
launched his vessel upon the Hudson. — Fitch's failure, how- 
ever, was not from any fault in his principle, and had his know- 
ledge of mechanics equalled Fulton's, or had his means been 
more ample, or had he tried his boat on the Hudson where 
coaches could not compete with him, as they did on the level 
banks of the Delaware, we cannot doubt he would have en- 
tirely succeeded twenty years before his plans were realized 
by another.| 

* Renwick on steam engine, 260. 

t American Pioneer, i. 33 to 36. Sparks' Amer. Biography, New Series, vol. ri. 790, 104, 
111, 115. Renwick on the Steam Engine, 209. 260. Sparks' Washington, i<. 63, 104, 
Cincinnati Directory, for 1819, p. 64. Howe's Virginia, 336 to 340. Collin's Kentucky, 479. 



693 First Wcslei-n Steamer. 1811. 

[In the Columbian Magazine, published in Philadelphia, in 
(we think) 1786, is a plate showing the steamboat made by 
Fitch with its paddles, and a description of its action on the 
Delaware. If John Fitch had received the patronage neces- 
sary, it is probable his boat would have been successful.] 

When Fulton had at length altained, by slow degrees, suc- 
cess upon the Hudson, he began to look elsewhere for other 
fields of action, and the west, which had attracted the atten- 
tion of both of his American predecessors, could not fail to 
catch his eye. Mr. Latrobe, who spoke as will be seen by 
authority, says : — 

The complete success attending the experiments in steam 
navigation made on the Hudson and the adjoining waters 
previous to the year 1809, turned the attention of the principal 
projectors to the idea of its application on the western rivers ; 
and in the month of April of that year, Mr. Roosevelt of New 
York, pursuant to an agreement with Chancellor Livingston 
and Mr. Fulton, visited those rivers, with the purpose of form- 
ing an opinion whether they admitted of steam navigation or 
not. At this time two boats, the North River and the Cler- 
mont, were running on the Hudson. JNIr. R. surveyed the 
rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and as his report was 
favorable, it was decided to build a boat at the former town. 
This was done under his direction, and in the course of 1811 
the first boat was launched on the waters of the Ohio. It 
was called the " New Orleans," and intended to ply between 
Natchez, in the State of Mississippi, and the city whose name 
it bore. In October it left Pittsburgh for its experimental 
voyage. On this occasion no freight or passengers were ta- 
ken, the object being merely to bring the boat to her station. 
Mr. R., his young wife and family, Mr. Baker, the engineer, 
Andrew Jack, the pilot, and six hands, with a few domestics, 
formed her whole burden. There were no wood-yards at that 
time, and constant delays were unavoidable. When, as re- 
lated, Mr. R. had gone down the river to reconnoitre, he had 
discovered two beds of coal, about one hundred and twenty 
miles below the Rapids at Louisville, and now took tools to 
work them, intending to load the ressel with the coal, and to 
employ it as fuel, instead of constantly detaining the boat 
while wood was procured from the banks. 



1811. First Western Steamer. 593 

Late at night on the fourth day after quitting Pittsburgh, they 
arrived in safety at Louisville, having been but seventy hours 
descending upwards of seven hundred miles. The novel ap- 
pearance of the vessel, and the fearful rapidity with which it 
made its passage over the broad reaches of the river, excited 
a mixture of terror and surprise among many of the settlers 
on the banks, whom the rumor of such an invention had nev- 
er reached ; and it is related that on the unexpected arrival 
of the boat before Louisville, in the course of a fine still 
moonlight night, the extraordinary sound which filled the air 
as the pent-up steam was suffered to escape from the valves, 
on rounding to, produced a general alarm, and multitudes in 
the town rose from their beds to ascertain the cause. I have 
heard that the general impression among the good Kentucki- 
ans was, that the comet had fallen into the Ohio ; but this 
does not rest upon the same foundation as the other facts 
which I lay before you, and which I may at once say, I had di- 
rectly from the lips of the parties themselves. The small 
depth of water in the Rapids prevented the boat from pursu- 
ing her voyage immediately ; and during the consequent de- 
tention of three weeks in the upper part of the Ohio, several 
trips were successfully made between Louisville and Cincin- 
nati. In fine the waters rose, and in the course of the last 
week in November, the voyage was resumed, the depth of 
water barely admitting their passage.* 

This steamer, after being nearly overwhelmed by the earth- 
quakes, reached Natchez at the close of the first week of 
January, 1812. 

[Mr. Bradbury, from whom we have quoted, and his travel- 
ing companion, Mr. Bridges, took their passage on the boat 
from Natchez to New Orleans on its first downward trip. 

He states : — 

" In the morning of the 6th inst., (Januar}^ 1812,) I went 
on board the steamboat from Pittsburgh ; she had passed us 
at the mouth of the Arkansas, three hundred and forty-one 
miles above Natchez ; she was a very handsome vessel, of 
410 tons burden, and was impelled by a powerful engine, also 
made at Pittsburgh, from whence she had come in less than 
twenty days, although 1,900 miles distance. "Jf 

* Rambler in North America, vol. i. 87. 

t Travels in the Interior of America, p. 208. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

BRITISH AND INDIAN WAR. 

Jiovoments of Tecumthe. — Events in the North-west preceding the War. — Declaration of 
War with Great Britain. — Surrender of Michigan by Governor IIull. — Operations of 
Governor Edwards in Illinois. — Massacre at Chicago. — Attack on Fort Harrison. — GoT- 
ernor Harrison appointed Commander-in-Chief of the North-western Army. — Expedi- 
tion against the Illinois Indians. — Defeat at French-town.— Siege of Fort Meigs. — 
Gal'ant Defence of Fort Stevenson. — Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie. — 
Battle of the Thames. — Eipoditions of Captain Holmes and General McArthur. — Con- 
clusion of the AVar. 

[At the time of the battle of Tippecanoe, Tecumthe, the 
master spirit in Indian diplomacy, was amongst the southern 
Indians, to bring them into the grand confederacy he had pro- 
jected. On his return, where he supposed he had made a 
strong and permanent impression, a few days after the disas- 
trous battle, when he saw the dispersion of his followers, the 
disgrace of his brother, and the destruction of his long cher- 
ished hopes, he 'was exceedingly angry. The rash presump- 
tuousness of the Prophet, in attacking the American army at 
Tippecanoe, destroyed his own power and crushed the grand 
confederacy before it was completed. 

When Tecumthe first met the prophet, he reproached him 
in the bitterest terms, and when the latter attempted to pal- 
liate his conduct, he seized him by the hair, shook him vio- 
lently, and threatened to take his life.* 

Tecumthe immediately sent Avord to Governor Harrison, 
that he had returned from the south, and that he M-as ready 
to visit the President as had been previously proposed. The 
Governor gave him permission to proceed to Washington, 
but not as the leader of a party of Indians, as he desired. The 
proud chief, who had appeared at Vincennes in 1810, with a 
large party of braves, had no desire to appear before his 
" Great Father," the President, without his retinue. The pro- 
posed visit was declined, and the intercourse between Tecum- 
the and the Governor terminated. 

In June, he sought an interview with the Indian agent at 
Fort Wayne; disavowed any intention of making war on the 
LTnited States, and reproached General Harrison for having 
marched against his people during his absence. The agent 
replied to this; Tecumthe listened with frigid indifierence, 

* Brown's Illinois, p. 282. — Billy CaldweU'a verbal statement to the editor. 



1812. Events Preceding the War of 1812. 595 

and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air, 
left the Council-house, and departed for Fort Maiden, in 
Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard.f 

[We have reserved a series of events pertaining to Missou- 
ri, the settlement of the Boone's Lick country, the Indian 
War, the Territorial Government, and sketches of St. Louis, 
for the Appendix of this volume. Much also pertaining to 
Illinois will also appear in the same arrangement. But there 
are some facts more directly connected with the war with the 
British and Indians in 1812, that must have a place in this 
chapter.] 

We have already referred to those causes of complaint on 
the part of the United States against England, which at length 
led to the war of 1812: they were, the interference with 
American trade enforced by the blockade system; the impress- 
ment of American seamen ; the encouragement of the Indians 
in their barbarities ; and the attempt to dismember the Union 
by the mission of Henry. Through the winter of 1811-12, 
these causes of provocation were discussed in Congress and 
the public prints, and a war with Great Britain openly threat- 
ened: even in December, 1811, the proposal to invade Cana- 
da in the following spring before the ice broke up, was deba- 
ted in the House of Representatives, and in particular was 
urged the necessity of such operations at the outset of the 
anticipated contest, as should wrest from the enemy the com- 
mand of the upper lakes, and secure the neutrality or favor of 
the Indian tribes by the conquest of Upper Canada. 

While, therefore, measures were taken to seize the Lower 
province, other steps were arranged for the defence of the 
north-west frontier against Indian hostility, and which, in the 
event of a rupture with Great Britain, would enable the Uni- 
ted States to obtain the command of Lake Erie. These step.s, 
however, were by no means suitable to the attainment of the 
object last named; in place of a naval force upon Lake Erie, 
the necessity of which had been pressed upon the Executive 
by Governor Hull of Michigan Territory, in three memorials, 
one of them as early as the year 1809, a second dated March 
6th, and a third on or about April 11th, 1812; and although 
the same policy was pointedly urged upon the Se -retary o 
War by General Armstrong, in a private letter of January 

^'Brown's History of Illinois, 283. 



596 Hull sends his -papers, <^c., by water to Detroit. 1812. 

2nd, yet the government proposed to use no other than mili- 
tary means, and hoped by the presence of two thousand sol- 
diers, to effect the capture or destruction of the British fleet. 
Nay, so blind was the War Department, that it refused to in- 
crease the number of troops to three thousand, although in- 
formed by General Hull, that that was the least number from 
which success could be hoped. 

When, therefore, Governor, now General Hull (to whom, in 
consideration of his revolutionary services, and his supposed 
knowledge of the country and the natives, the command of 
the army destined for the conquest of the Canadas had been 
confided) commenced his march from Dayton on the 1st of 
June, it was with means which he himself regarded as utter- 
ly inadequate to the object aimed at, a fact which sufficiently 
explains his vascillating, nerveless conduct. Through that 
whole month, he and his troops toiled on toward the Mau- 
mee, busy with their , roads, bridges and block-houses. 

On the 24th, advices from the Secretary of War, dated on 
the 18th, came to hand, but not a word contained in them 
made it probable that the long expected war would be imme- 
diately declared, although Col. McArthur at the same time re- 
ceived word from Chillicothe warning him, on the authority 
of Thomas Worthington, then Senator from Ohio, that before 
the letter reached him, the declaration would have been made 
public. This information McArthur laid before General Hull; 
and when, upon reaching the Maumee, that Commander pro- 
posed to place his baggage, stores, and sick on board a vessel, 
and send them by water to Detroit, the backwoodsman warn- 
ed him of the danger, and refused to trust his own property 
on board. 

Hull, however, treated the report of war as the old story 
which had been current through all the spring, and refused 
to believe it possible that the government would not give him 
information at the earliest moment that the measure was re- 
solved on. He, accordingly, on the 1st of July, embarked his 
disabled men and most of his goods on board the Cuyahoga 
Packet, suffering his aid-de-camp in his carelessness to send 
by her even his instructions and army-roll, and then proceed- 
ed upon his way. The next day, July 2nd, a letter of the 
same date with that received upon the 24th of June, reached 



1812. Declaration of War. 597 

him, and apprized him that the declaration of war was indeed 
that day made, and before his astonisliment was over, word was 
brought of the capture of his packet off Maiden, with all his 
official papers. The conduct of the Executive at this time 
was certainly most remarkable ; having sent an insufficient 
force to effect a most important object, it next did all in its 
power to ensure the destruction of that force. 

On tiie 1st of June, Mr. Madison recommended war to the 
Senate; on the 3d of June, Mr. Calhoun reported in favor of 
it, and in an able manifesto set forth the reasons; and, on the 
19th, proclamation of the contest was made. Upon the day 
preceding, Congress having passed the needful act, the Secre- 
tary of War wrote to General Hull one letter saying nothing 
of the matter, and sent it by a special messenger, — and a se- 
cond containing the vital news, which he confided to a half 
organized post as far as Cleveland, and thence literally to ac- 
cident. Nor is this all : while the General of the Northwest- 
ern army was thus, not uninformed merely, but actually mis- 
led, letters franked by the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
United States, bore the notice of what had been done to the 
British post of St. Joseph, near the north-western shore of 
Lake Huron; and also to Maiden, which place it reached up- 
on the 28th of June. And as if to complete the circle of fol- 
ly, the misled General, through neglect, suffered his official 
papers, which he owned ought never to have been out of his 
possession, to pass into that of the foe, and thus informed 
them of his purposes and his strength.* 

That strength, however, was such, compared with their own> 
that no effort was made to prevent the march of the Ameri- 
cans to Detroit, nor to interfere with their passage across the 
river to Sandwich, where they established themselves on the 
12th of July, preparatory to attacking Maiden itself, and com- 
mencing the conquest and conversion of Upper Canada. And 
here, at once, the incapacity of Hull showed itself; by his 
own confession he took every step under the influence of two 
sets of fears ; he dared not, on the one hand, act boldly, for 
fear that his incompetent force would be all destroyed ; while, 

*For the foregoing facts see Manifesto of the Senate, Juno 3d, 1812, American State 
Papers, iii. 5G7.— Niles' Kegister, i. 72, 311, 459, vol. ii. 5, 86, 239 and 273.— Madison's 
Message, November 4, 1812, in American State Papers, i. 80. — Gov. Hull's Defence, 24 to 
.S3 and 50. — Armstrong'* Notices, i. 48 and Appendix, p. 234. Hull's Defence, pp. 7, 10, 
11, 16. — Cist'd Miscellany, ii. 298. — McAffee's History of the War, from 50 to 60. 



598 Governor Hull retires to Detroit. 1812. 

on the other hand, he dared not refuse to act, for fear his mi- 
litia, already uneasy, would utterly desert him. 

Thus embarrassed, he proclaimed freedom and the need of 
submission to the Canadians, held out inducements to the Bri- 
tish militia to desert, and to the Indians to keep quiet, and sat 
still at Sandwich, striving to pacify his blood thirsty back- 
woodsmen, who itched to be at Maiden. To amuse his own 
army, and keep them from trying dangerous experiments, he 
found cannon needful to the assault of the British posts, and 
spent three weeks making carriages for five guns. While 
these were under way. Colonel Cass and Colonel Miller, by 
an attack upon the advanced parties of the enemy, demon- 
strated the willingness and power of their men to push their 
conquests, if the chance were given, but Hull refused the op- 
portunity ; and when at length the cannon were prepared, the 
ammunition placed in wagons, and the moment for assault 
agreed on, the General, upon hearing that a proposed attack 
on the Niagara frontier had not been made, and that troops 
from that quarter were moving westward, suddenly abandon- 
ed the enterprise, and with most of his army, on the night of 
the 7th of August, returned to Detroit, having effected noth- 
ing except the destruction of all confidence in himself, on the 
part of the whole force under his control, officers and privates. 

IMeanwhile, upon the 29th of July, Colonel Proctor had 
reached Maiden, and perceiving instantly the power which 
the position of that post gave him over the supplies of the 
army of the United States, he commenced a series of opera- 
tions, the object of which was to cut off the communications 
of Hull with Ohio, and thus not merely neutralize all active 
operations on his part, but starve him into surrender or force 
him to detail his whole army, in order to keep open his way to 
the only point from which supplies could reach him. A proper 
force on lake Erie, or the capture of Maiden, would have pre- 
vented this annoying and fatal mode of warfare, but the im- 
becility of the government and that of the General, combined 
to favor the plans of Proctor.* 

Having by his measures stopped the stores on their way to 
Detroit, at the river Raisin, he next defeated the insufilcient 

* See IIuU's Defence, 42 to 71. Hull's rroclaination in Brown's llijtory of Illinois, p. 
302, Note. AlcAflfee, 61; also ibid, pp. 76, 77. Col. Cass' Letter ia Niles' Register, ii. 
3S3. Artuslrong's Notices, i. 24, 23. 



1812. HulVs Surrender. 599 

band of two hundred men und^ Van Horn, sent by Hull to 
escort them ; and so far withstood that of five hundred un- 
der Miller, as to cause Hull to recall the remnant of that vic- 
torious and gallant band, though it had completely routed the 
British and Indians. By these means, Proctor amused the 
Americans until General Brock reached Maiden, which he 
did upon the 13th of August, and prepared to attempt the 
conquest of Detroit itself. 

And here again occurred a most singular want of skill on 
the part of the Americans. In order to prevent the forces in 
Upper Canada from being combined against Hull, General 
Dearborn had been ordered to make a divsersion in his favor 
£t£ Niagara and Kingston, but in place of doing this, he made 
an armistice with the British commanders, which enabled them 
to turn their attention entirely to the more distant west, and 
left Hull to shift for himself On the 14th of Aug., therefore, 
w^hile a third party, under Mc Arthur, was despatched by Hull 
to open his communications with the river Raisin, though 
by a new and impracticable road, Gen. Brock appeared at 
Sandwich, and began to erect batteries to protect his farther 
operations. These batteries Hull would not suffer any to 
molest, saying, that if the enemy did not fire on him he would 
not on them, and though, when summoned to surrender upon 
the 15th, he absolutely refused, yet upon the 16th, without a 
blow struck, the Governor and General crowned his course of 
indecision and unmanly fear, by surrendering the town of De- 
troit and territory of Michigan, together with fourteen hundred 
brave men longing for battle, to three hundred English sol- 
diers, four hundred Canadian militia disguised in red coats, 
and a band of Indian allies.* 

For this conduct he was accused of treason and cowardice, 
and found guilty of the latter. Nor can we doubt the justice 
of the sentence. However brave he may have been person- 
ally, he was, as a commander, a coward ; and moreover, he 
was influenced, confessedly, by his fears as a father, lest his 
daughter and her children should' fall into the hands of 
the Indians. In truth, his faculties seem to have been paraly- 
zed by fear ; fear that he should fail ; fear that his troops 
would be unfair to him, fear that the savages would spare 

* McAffec, from 92 to 85. Armstrong's Notice?, i. 26 to .33 ; ibifl. i. Appendix, No. 10, 
p. 205. Hull's Trial. Do. Debeuse. Terms of Capitulation, McAfiFee, 90. 



600 Attack on Mackinac. 1812. 

no one if opposed with vigor; fear of some undefined and 
horrid evil impending. McAffee accuses him of intemperance, 
but no effort was made on his trial to prove this, and we have 
no reason to think it a true charge ; but his conduct was like 
that of a drunken man, without sense or spirit. 

But the fall of Detroit, though the leading misfortune of this 
unfortunate summer, was not the only one. Word, as we have 
stated, had been sent through the kindness of some friend, 
under a frank from the American Secretary of the Treasury, 
informing the British commander at St. Joseph, of the declara- 
tion of war ; while Lieut. Hanks, commanding the American 
fortress at Mackinac, received no notice from any source. The 
consequence was an attack upon the key of the northern lakes 
on the 17th of July, by a force of British, Canadians and 
savages, numbering, in all, 1021 : the garrison amounting to 
but fifty-seven effective men, felt unable to withstand so for- 
midable a body, and to avoid the constantly threatened In- 
dian massacre, surrendered as prisoners of war and were dis- 
missed on parole.* 

["The whole population of Michigan," says Gov. Hull, "of 
which Detroit was the Capital, was between four and five 
thousand souls ; their settlements were on the Miami [Mau- 
mee] of Lake Erie, the river Raisin, Eros Rouge, the Detroit 
river. Lake St. Clair, and the Isle of Mackinac. The greater 
part were Canadians. They were miserable farmers, paid 
little attention to agriculture, and depended principally on 
hunting, fishing, and trading with the Indians, for support. 
The produce of the territory, in the substantial articles of liv- 
ing, was by no means sufficient for the subsistence of the in- 
habitants. Many were supplied with beef, pork, flour, and 
corn, principally from the State of Ohio, IVew York, and 
Pennsylvania. "t] 

[The Indians in northern Illinois, and the country bordering 
on Lake Michigan, had manifested hostile feelings toward the 
Americans before the battle of Tippecanoe. Governor Ed- 
wards, who was indefatigable in his efforts to protect the set- 
tlements, employed trusty Frenchmen, who had traded with 
these Indians, and who could still pass under that guise, as 
spies in the Indian country. Their communications, in a 

* For the British account of IIull's surrender, see Niles' Register, iii. 14, 33, 265 to 268. 
For Col. Ca-'s' Report, Niles, iii. 37 to 39. For Gov. llull's Report, ibid, 52 to 57. For 
Articles of Capitulation, ibid, 13; various anecdotes, ibid, 44. 

f Copied from Brown's Illinois, p. 301. Note. 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 601 

plain unlettered style, have been examined on the files of the 
State Department of Illinois. They are often particular and 
minute in giving t]ie position of Indian villages, number of 
the braves, sources from whence they received their supplies, 
the names of head men, and other details. 

These facts, at short intervals, w^ere communicated to the 
War Department, as proofs that the Indians vi'^ere hostile, 
and were urged in his repeated applications to the War De- 
partment for protection to the inhabitants of that frontier ter- 
ritory. 

We now come to a mournful and disastrous event; — the 
massacre at Chicago. And in this sketch, beside the State pa- 
pers and Niles' Register, (iii. 155 and iv. 160) we have avail- 
ed ourselves of an address delivered at Chicago by Wm. H. 
Brown, Esq. ; — A Narrative of the Massacre at Chicago, by 
John H. Kinzie,Esq., who was born in a trading house on that 
spot; — and the History of Illinois, by Henry Brown, Esq. A 
large portion of the sketch by the last writer is made up from 
the simple and truthful narrative of Mr. Kinzie. 

A small trading post had been established at Chicago in the 
period of. the French explorations, but no village formed. It 
was one of the thoroughfares in the excursions of both traders 
and Indians. By the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, negotia- 
ted with the Pottawatomies and Miamies, &c., they agreed 
to relinquish their right to " one piece of land six miles 
square, at the mouth of Chicago river, emptying into the 
south-west end of Lake Michigan, ichere a fort formerly stood.''-* 

In 1804, a small fort was erected here by the United States' 
government. It stood on the spot where the fdrt stood in 
1833, but it was differently constructed, having two "block- 
houses on the southern side, and on the northern side, a sally- 
port, or subterranean passage from the parade-ground to the 
river."f It was called Fort Dearborn. 

The officers in 1812, were Captain Heald, the 

commanding officer. Lieutenant Helm, and Ensign Ronan, 
(the two last very young men) and the Surgeon, Dr. Voor- 
hees, with seventy-five men, very few of whom were effec- 
tive. 

Friendly intercourse had existed between these troops and 

* Indian Treaties, Washington, 1826, p. 51. 
tKinzie, p. 5. 

38 



602 The Massaa-e at Chicago. 1812. 

individuals and bands of neighboring Indians. The principal 
chiefs and braves of the Pottawatomie nation visited Fort 
Maiden on the Canada side annually, received presents to a 
large amount, and were in alliance with Great Britain. — 
Many Pottavratomies, Winnebagoes, Ottawas, and Shawa- 
nese were in the battle of Tippecanoe, yet the principal 
chiefs in the immediate vicinity were on amicable terms with 
the Americans, and gave proof of it, by their rescue of those 
who were saved. 

Besides those persons attached to the garrison, there was 
the family of Mr. Kinzie, who had been engaged in the fur 
trade at that spot from 1804, and a few Canadians, or enga- 
ges, with their wives and children, who were attached to the 
same establishment. 

On the 7th of April, a marauding party of Winnebagoes, 
attacked Mr. Lee's settlement, at a place called ^Ilardscrab- 
ble, about four miles from Chicago, and massacred a Mr. 
White, and a Frenchman in his employ. Two other men es- 
caped. This was near the junction of the canal with the 
south branch of the Chicago. For some days after this there 
were signs of hostile Indians, and repeated alarms at the gar- 
rison, but the whole passed off in quietness until all ap- 
prehension was dismissed. 

On the afternoon of the 7th of August, Winncmeg, or Cat- 
fish, a trust-worthy Pottawatomie chief arrived at the post, 
bringing dispatches from Governor Hull, the commander-in- 
chief in the north-west. These dispatches announced the 
declaration of war between the United States and Great Bri- 
tain ; that General Hull, at the head of the army in the 
north-west, was on his way fiom Fort Wayne to Detroit : — 
and that the British troops had taken Mackinac. 

His orders to Captain Heald, were, " to evacuate the post, 
if practicable, and, in that event, to distribute the property 
belonging to the United Slates, in the fort, and in the factory 
or agency, to the Indians in the neighborhood. 

-'•After having delivered his dispatches, Winnemeg request- 
-«d a private interview with Mr. Kinzie, who had taken up his 
residence in the fort. He stated to Mr. Kinzie that he was 
acquainted with the purport of the communications he had 
brought, and begged him to ascertain if it were the intention 
of Captain Heald to evacuate the post. He advised strongly 
that such a step should not be taken, since the garrison was 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 603 

well supplied with ammunition, and with provision, for six 
months; it would, therefore, he thought, be far better to remain 
until a reinforcement could be sent to their assistance. If, 
however. Captain Heald should decide on leaving the post, it 
should, by all means, be done immediately. The Pottawato- 
mies, through whose country they must pass, being ignorant 
of Winnemeg's mission, a forced march might be made before 
the hostile Indians were prepared to interrupt them. 

Of this advice, so earnestly given. Captain Heald was im- 
mediately informed. He replied that it was his intention to 
evacuate the post, but that inasmuch as he had received or- 
ders to distribute the United States property, he should not feel 
justified in leaving until he had collected the Indians in the 
neighborhood, and made an equitable division among them. 

Winnemeg then suggested the expediency of marching out 
and leaving all things standing — possibly, while the savages 
were engaged in a partition of the spoils, the troops might 
effect their retreat unmolested. This advice was strongly se- 
conded by Mr. Kinzie, but did not meet the approbation of 
the commanding officer. 

The order for evacuating the post was read next morning 
upon parade. It is difficult to understand why Capt. Heald 
in such an emergency, omitted the usual form of calling a 
council of war, with his officers. Perhaps it arose from a 
want of harmonious feeling between himself and one of his 
subalterns — Ensign Ronan — a high-spirited, and somewhat 
overbearing, but brave and generous young man. In the 
course of the day, finding no council was called, the officers 
waited upon Capt. Heald, to be informed what course he in- 
tended to pursue. When they learned his intention to leave 
the post, they remonstrated with him upon the following 
grounds : 

First. It was highly improbable that the command would 
be permitted to pass through the country in safet}-, to Fort 
Wayne. For, although it had been said that some of the 
chiefs had opposed an attack upon the fort, planned the pre- 
ceding autumn, yet, it was well known, that they had been 
actuated in that matter by motives of private regard to one 
family, and not to any general friendly feeling towards the 
Americans ; and that, at any rate, it was hardly to be expect- 
ed that these few individuals would be able to control the 
whole tribe, who were thirsting for blood. In the next place, 
their march must necessarily be slow, as their movements 
must be accommodated to the helplessness of the women and 
children, of whom there were a number with the detach- 
ment. That of their small force, some of the soldiers were 
superannuated and others invalid ; therefore, since the course 
to be pursued was left discretional, their advice was to remain 
where they were, and fortify themselves as strongly as possi- 



604 The Massacre at Chicago. 1812. 

ble. Succors from the other side of the peninsula might ar- 
rive before they could be attacked by the British from Macki- 
nac, and even should there not, it were far better to fall into 
the hands of the latter, than to become the victims of the 
savages. 

Capt. Heald argued in reply, "that a special order had been 
issued by the War Department, that no post should be sur- 
rendered without battle having been given ; and that his force 
was totally inadequate to an engagement with the Indians. 
That he should, unquestionably, be censured for remaining, 
when there appeared a prospect of a safe march through, and 
that upon the whole, he deemed it expedient to assemble the 
Indians, distribute the property among them, and then ask of 
them an escort to Fort Wayne, with the promise of a con- 
siderable reward upon their safe arrival — adding, that he had 
full confidence in the friendly professions of the Indians, from 
whom, as well as from the soldiers, the capture of Mackinac 
had been kept a profound secret." 

From this time the officers held themselves aloof, and spoke 
but little upon the subject, though they considered the project 
of Capt. Heald little short of madness. The dissatisfaction 
among the soldiers hourly increased, until it reached a high 
degree of insubordination. Upon one occasion, as Captain 
Heald was conversing with Mr. Kinzie, upon the parade, he 
said, "I could not remain, even if I thought it best, for I have 
but a small store of provisions." "Why, Captain," said 
a soldier, who stood near, forgetting all etiquette, in the 
excitement of the moment, " you have cattle enough to 
last the troops six months." "But," replied Captain Heald, 
"1 have no salt to preserve the beef with." "Then jerk* 
it," said the man, "as the Indians do their venison." 

The Indians now became daily more unruly. Entering the 
fort in defiance of the sentinels, they made their way without 
ceremony into the quarters of the officers. On one occasion, 
an Indian took up a rifle and fired it in the parlor of the com- 
manding officer, as an expression of defiance. Some were of 
opinion, that this was intended, among the young men, as a 
signal for an attack. The old Chiefs passed backward and 
forward, among the assembled groups, with the appearance 
of the most lively agitation, while the squaws rushed to and 
fro in great excitement, and evidently prepared for some fear- 
ful scene. Any further manifestation of ill-feeling was, how- 
ever, suppressed for the present, and Capt. Heald, strange as 
it may seem, continued to entertain a conviction of his hav- 
ing created so amicable a disposition among the Indians, as 
would ensure the safety of the command, on their march to 
Fort Wayne. 

•This is done by cutting the meat in thin slices, placing it upon a scaffold and making 
a slow fire under it, which dries and smokes it at the same time. 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 605 

Daring this excitement amongst the Indians, a runner arri- 
ved with a message from Tecumthe, with the news of the 
capture of Mackinac, the defeat of Van Home, and the re- 
treat of Gen. Hull from Canada. He desired them to arm 
immediately ; and intimated, that he had no doubt but Hull 
would soon be compelled to surrender.* 

In this precarious condition, matters remained until the 
12th of August, when a council was held with the Indians 
who collected from the vicinity. None of the military officers 
attended but Capt. Heald, though requested by him. They 
had been informed that it was the intention of the young 
chiefs to massacre them in council, and soon as the comman- 
der left the fort, they took command of the block-houses, 
opened the port-holes and pointed the loaded cannon so as to 
command the whole council. This, probably, caused a post- 
ponement of their horrid designs. 

The Captain informed the council of his intentions to dis- 
tribute the next day, among them, all the goods in the store- 
house, with the ammunition and provisions. He requested 
the Pottawatomies to furnish him an escort to Fort Wayne, 
promising them a liberal reward upon their arrival there, in- 
addition to the liberal presents they were now to receive. 
The Indians were profuse in their professions of good-will 
and friendship, assented to all he proposed, and promised all 
he desired. The result shows the true character of the 
Indians. No act of kindness, nor offer of reward, could as- 
suage their thirst for blood. 

Mr. Kinzie, who understood well the Indian character, and 
their designs, waited on the commander, in the hope of open- 
ing his eyes to the appaling danger. He told him the Indians 
had been secretly hostile to the Americans for a long time ; 
that since the battle of Tippecanoe he had dispatched orders 
to all his traders to furnish no ammunition to them, and point- 
ed out the wretched policy to Captain Heald, of furnishing 
the enemy with arms and ammunition to destroy the Ameri- 
cans. This argument opened the eyes of the commander, who 
was struck with the impolicy, and resolved to destroy the am- 
munition and liquor. 

« Kinzie, pp. 12 to 15. 

t Brown's History of Uliiwis, p. 307. Note. 



606 The Massacre at Chicago. 1812. 

The next day, (13th) the goods, consisting of blankets, 
cloths, paints, &c., were distributed, but at night the ammu- 
nition was thrown into an old well, and the casks of alcohol, 
including a large quantity belonging to Mr. Kinzie, was tak- 
en through the sally-port, their heads knocked in, and the con- 
tents poured into the river. The Indians, ever watchful and 
suspicious, stealthily crept around, and soon found out the 
loss of their loved " fire-water." 

On the 14th, Capt. Wells departed with fifteen friendly Mi am- 
ies. He was a brave man, had resided among the Indians from 
boyhood, and knew well their character and habits. He had 
heard at Fort Wayne, of the order of General Hull to evacu- 
ate Fort Dearborn, and knowing the hostile intentions of the 
Pottawatomies, he had made a rapid march through the wil- 
derness, to prevent, if possible, the exposure of his sister, Mrs. 
Heald, the oflicers and garrison, to certain destruction. But 
he came too late ! The ammunition had been destroyed, and 
on the provisions the enemy was rioting. His only alterna- 
tive was to hasten their departure, and every preparation was 
made for the march of the troops next morning. 

A second Council was held with the Indians in the after- 
noon. They expressed great indignation at the destruction 
of the ammunition and liquor. Murmurs and threats were 
heard from every quarter. 

Among the chiefs and braves were several, who, although 
they partook of the feelings of hostility of their tribe to the 
Americans, retained a personal regard for the troops, and the 
white families in the place. They exerted their utmost influ- 
ence to allay the angry feelings of the savage warriors ; but 
their efforts were in vain. 

Among these was Black Partridge, a chief of some distinc- 
tion. The evening after the second council, he entered the 
quarters of the commanding officer. " Father," said the ven- 
erable chief, " I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. 
It was given me by the Americans, and I have long worn it, 
in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are 
resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites. I 
cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace 
while I am compelled to act as an enemy." 

The reserved ammunition, twenty-five rounds to a man, 
was now distributed. The baggage wagons for the sick, the 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 607 

women and children were ready, and, amidst the surrounding 
gloom, and the expectation of a fatiguing march through 
the wilderness, or a disastrous issue on the morrow, the whole 
party, except the watchful sentinels, retired for a little rest. 

The fatal morning of the 15th of August, arrived. The sun 
shone out in brightness as it arose from the glassy surface of 
the lake. The atmosphere was balmy, and could the feelings 
of the party have been relieved from the most distressing ap- 
prehensions, they could have departed with exhilerating feel- 
ings. 

Early in the morning a message was received by Mr. Kin- 
zie, from To-pc-nee-hc, a friendly chief of the St. Joseph's band, 
informing him that the Pottawatomies, who had promised to 
be an escort to the detachment, designed mischief. Mr. Kin- 
zie had placed his family under the protection of some 
friendly Indians. This part}-, in a boat, consisted of Mrs. Kin- 
zie, four young children, a clerk of Mr. Kinzie's, two servants, 
and the boat-men, or voyageurs, with two Indians as protec- 
tors. The boat was intended to pass along the southern end 
of the lake to St. Joseph's. Mr. Kinzie and his eldest son, a 
youth, had agreed to accompany Captain Heald and the 
troops, as he thought his influence over the Indians would en- 
able him to restrain the fury of the savages, as they were 
much attached to him and his family. 

To-pe-nee-be urged him and his son to accompany his fami- 
ly in the boat, assuring him the hostile Indians would allow 
his boat to pass in safety to St. Joseph's. 

The boat had scarcely reached the lake, when another mes- 
senger from this friendly chief, arrived to detain them where 
they were. We leave the reader to imagine the feelings of 
the matter. " She was a woman of uncommon energy, and 
strength of character, yet her heart died within her as she 
folded her arms around her helpless infants." And when she 
heard the discharge of the guns, and the shrill, terrific war- 
whoop of the infuriated savages, and knew the party, and 
most probably her beloved husband and first born son were 
doomed to destruction, language has not power to describe 
her agony ! 

At nine o'clock the troops, with the baggage wagons, left 
the fort with martial music and in military array. Captain 
Wells, at the head of his band of Miamies, led the 



608 The Massacre at Chicago. 1812. 

with his face blackened after the manner of Indians; the 
troops, with the wagons, containing the women and children, 
the sick and lame, followed, while at a little distance behind, 
were the Pottawatomies, about five hundred in number, who 
had pledged their honor to escort them in safety to Fort 
Wayne. The party took the road along the lake shore. 

On reaching the point where a range of sand hills commen- 
ced, (within the present limits of Chicago,) the Pottawato- 
mies defiled to the right into the prairie, to bring the sand 
hills between them and the Americans. They had marched 
about a mile and a half from the fort, when Captain Wells, 
who, with his INIiamies, was in advance, rode furiously back, 
and exclaimed, 

" They are about to attack us : form instantly and charge 
upon them." 

The words were scarcely uttered when a volley of balls, 
from Indian muskets, behind the sand hills, poured upon them. 
The troops were hastily formed into lines and charged up the 
bank. One man, a veteran soldier of seventy, fell as they 
mounted the bank. The battle became general. The Miam- 
ies fled at the outset, though Captain Wells did his utmost to 
induce them to stand their ground. Their chief rode up to 
the Pottawatomies, charged them with treachery, and, bran- 
dishing his tomahawk, declared, " he would be the first to head 
a party of Americans and punish them." He then turned his 
horse and galloped after his companions over the prairie. 

The American troops behaved most gallantly, and sold their 
lives dearly. Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm, was 
in the action, behaved with astonishing presence of mind (as 
did all the other females) and furnished Mr. Kinzie with many 
thrilling facts, from which we make the following extracts. 
Mrs. Helm was the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie. She states: 

"Our horses pranced and bounded and could hardly be re- 
strained, as the balls whistled around them. I drew off a 
little and gazed upon my husband and father, who were yet 
unharmed. I felt that m}' hour was come, and endeavored to 
forget those 1 loved, and prepare myself for my approaching 
fate. 

"While I was thus engaged, the surgeon, Dr. V., came up, 
he was badly wounded. His horse had been shot under him, 
and he had received a ball in his leg. Every muscle of his 
countenance was quivering with the agony of terror. He 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 609 

said to tne, 'Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly 
wounded, but I think not mortally. Perhaps we might pur- 
chase om- lives by promising them a large reward. Do you 
think there is any chance ?' 

" Dr. V. said 1, "do not 1 't us waste the few moments that 
yet remain to us, in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. 
In a few moments we must appear before the bar of God. Let 
us endeavor to make what preparation is yet in our power.' 
'Oh ! I cannot die !' exclaimed he, 'I am not fit to die — if I 
had but a short time to prepare — death is awful! I pointed to 
Ensign Ronan, who, though mortally wounded, and nearly 
down, was still fighting with desperation, upon one knee. 

" 'Look at that man,' said I, 'at least he dies like a soldier !' 

" 'Yes,' replied the unfortunate man, with a convulsive 
gasp, 'but he has no terrors of the future — he is an unbe- 
liever 1' 

" At this moment, a young Indian raised his tomahawk at 
me. By springing aside, I avoided the blow which was aimed 
at my skull, but which alighted on my shoulder. I seized him 
around the neck, and while exerting my utmost efforts to get 
possession of his scalping-knife, which hung in a scabbard 
over his breast, I was dragged from his grasp by another and 
an older Indian. 

"The latter bore me, struggling and resisting, towards the 
lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with which I was hurri- 
ed along, I recognized, as I passed them, the lifeless remains 
of the unfortunate surgeon. Some murderous tomahawk had 
stretched him upon the very spot where I had last seen him. 

"I was immediately plunged into the water, and held there 
with a forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon 
perceived, however, that the object of rry captor was not to 
drown me, as he held me firmly in such a position as to place 
my head above the water. This reassured me, and regarding 
him attentively, I soon recognized, in spite of the paint, with 
which he was disguised. The Black Partridge. 

"When the firing had somewhat subsided, my preserver bore 
me from the water, and conducted pie up the sand-banks. It 
was a burning August morning, and walking through the sand 
in my drenched condition, was inexpressibly painful and fa- 
tiguing. I stopped and took off my shoes, to free them from the 
sand, with which they were nearly filled, when a squaw seized 
and carried them off, and I was obliged to proceed without 
them. When we had gained the prairie, I was met by my 
father who told me that my husband was safe,, and but slightly 
wounded. They led me gently back toward the Chicago river, 
along the southern bank of which was the Pottawatomie en- 
campment. At one time I was placed upon a horse without 
a saddle, but soon finding the motion insupportable, I sprang 
off. Supported partly by my kind conductor, and partly by 



610 The Massacre at Chicago. 1812. 

another Indian, Pec-so-tum, who held dangling in his hand, 
the scalp of Capt. Wells, I dragged my fainting steps to one 
of the wigwams. 

"The wife of Wau-bcc-nee-mah , a chief from the Illinois river, 
was standing near, and seeing my exhausted condition, she 
seized a kettle, dipped up some water from a little stream that 
flowed near, threw into it some maple sugar, and stirring it 
up with her hand, gave it to me to drink. This act of kind- 
ness, in the midst of so many atrocities, touched me most 
sensibly, but my attention was soon diverted to another 
object. The fort had become a scene of plunder, to 
such as remained after the troops had marched out. The 
cattle had been shot down as they run at large, and lay dead 
or dying around. 

"As the noise of the firing grew gradually less, and 
the stragglers from the victorious party dropped in, 1 received 
confirmation of what my father had hurriedly communicated 
in our rencontre on the lake shore ; namely, that the whites 
had surrendered, after the loss of about two-thirds of their 
number. They had stipulated for the preservation of their 
lives, and those of the remaining women and children, and for 
their delivery at some of the British posts, unless ransomed by 
traders in the Indian country. It appears that the wounded 
prisoners were not considered as included in the stipulation, 
and a horrible scene occurred upon their being brought into 
camp. 

"An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of fiiends, or excited 
by the sanguinary scenes around her, seemed possessed by a 
demoniac ferocity. She seized a stable fork, and assaulted one 
miserable victim, who lay groaning and writhing in the agony 
of his wounds, aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. 
With a delicacy of feeling scarcely to have been expected, 
under such circumstances, Wau-bcc-ncc-mah stretched a mat 
across two poles, between me and this dreadful scene. I was 
thus spared, in some degree, a view of its horrors, although 1 
could not entirely close my cars to the cries of the sufferer. 
The following night, five n^ore of the wounded prisoners were 
tomahawked." 

But why dwell upon this painful subject? Why describe 
the butchery of the children, twelve of whom, placed together 
in one baggage-wagon, fell beneath the merciless tomahawk 
of one young savage ? This atrocious act was committed after 
the whites, twenty-seven in number, had surrendered. When 
Capt. Wells beheld it, he exclaimed, "Is that their game? 
Then 1 will kill too !" So saying, he turned his horse's head, 
and started for the Indian camp near the fort, where had been 
left their squaws and children. 

Several Indians pursued him, firing at him as he galloped 
along, lie hiid himself flat, on the neck of his horse, loading 



1812. The Massacre at Chicago. 611 

and firing in that position. At length, the balls of his pursuers 
took effect, killing his horse, and severely wounding himself. 
At this moment he was met by Winncmcg and Wau-ban-see, 
who endeavored to save him from the savages who had now 
overtaken him ; but as they supported him along, after hav- 
ing disengaged him from his horse, he received his death-blow 
from one of the party, {Pcc-so-tum,) who stabbed him in the 
back. 

The heroic resolution of one of the soldier's wives deserves 
to be recorded. She had, from the first, expressed a determi- 
nation never to fall into the hands of the savages, believing 
that their prisoners were always subjected to tortures worse 
than death. When, therefore, a party came up to her, to 
make her prisoner, she fought with desperation, refusing to 
surrender, although assured of safe treatment ; and literally 
suffered herself to be cut to pieces, rather than become their 
captive. 

The heart of Capt. Wells was taken out, and cut into pieces, 
and distributed among the tribes. His mutilated remains re- 
mained unburied until next day, when Billy Caldwell gath- 
ered up his head in one place and mangled body in another, 
and buried them in the sand.* 

The family of Mr. Kinzie, had been taken from the boat 
to their home, by friendly Indians, and there strictly guarded. 
Very soon a very hostile party of the Pottawatomie nation 
arrived from the Wabash, and it required all the skill and 
bravery of Black Partridge^ Wauhansee, Billy Caldwell, (who 
arrived at a critical moment,) and other friendly Indians, to 
protect them. Runners had been sent by the hostile chiefs to 
all the Indian villages, to apprise them of the intended evacu- 
ation of the fort, and of their plan of attacking the troops. — 
In eager thirst to participate in such a scene of blood, but ar- 
rived too late to participate in the massacre. They were in- 
furiated at their disappointment, and sought to glut their ven- 
geance on the wounded and prisoners. f 

On the third day after the massacre, the family of Mr. Kin- 
zie, with ihe attaches of the establishment, under the care of 
Francois, a half breed interpreter, were taken to St. Joseph's 
in a boat, where they remained until the following November, 
under the protection of To-pe-ne-he, and his band. They were 
then carried to Detroit, under the escort of Chandonnai^ and a 

* Brown's Illinois, 316. Note. 
t Kinzie, 26 to 28. 



612 Closing Remarks. 1812. 

friendly chief by the name of Kee-po-tah, and, with their ser- 
vants, delivered up, as prisoners of war, to the British com- 
manding officer. 

" Of tho other prisoners, Captain Heald and Mrs. Heald 
were sent across the lake to St. Joseph's, the day after the 
battle. Captain Heald had received two wounds, and Mrs. 
Ileald seven, the ball of one of which was cut from her arm 
b}'^ Mr. Kinzie, with a peu-knife, after the engagement. 

Mrs. II. was ransomed on the battle field, by C/iandonnai, a 
half breed from St. Joseph's, for a mule he had just taken, and 
the promise of ten bottles of whisky. 

Captain Ileald was taken prisoner by an Indian from the 
Kankakee, who, seeing the wounded and enfeebled state of 
Mrs. Heald, generously released his prisoner, that he might 
accompany his wife. 

But when this Indian returned to his village on the Kanka- 
kee, he found that his generosity had excited so much dissatis- 
faction in his band that he resolved to visit St. Joseph's and 
reclaim his prisoner. News of his intention having reached 
To-pc-ne-be, Kce-po-tali, Chandonnai, and other friendly braves, 
they sent them in a bark canoe, under the charge of Rob- 
inson, a half-breed, along the eastern side of Lake Michi- 
gan, three hundred miles, to Mackinac, where they were de- 
livered over to the commanding officer. 

Lieutenant Helm was wounded in the action and taken 
prisoner; and afterwards taken b}' some friendly Indians to 
the Au sable, and from thence to St. Louis, and liberated from 
captivity through the agency of the late Thomas Forsyth, Esq. 

Mrs. Helm received a slight wound in the ancle ; had her 
horse shot from under her ; and after passing through the ag- 
onizing scenes described, went with the family of Mr. Kinzie 
to Detroit. 

The soldiers, with their wives and children, were dispersed 
among the different villages of the Pottawatomies, upon the 
Illinois, Wabash, Hock River and Milwaukee. The largest 
proportion were taken to Detroit and ransomed the following 
spring. Some, however, remained in captivity another year, 
and experienced more kindness than was expected from an 
enemy so merciless. 

We have given this account more in detail, than is our 
usage, partly because the locality was Chicago, where some 



1812. Official Report of Captain Hcald. 613 

individuals are still living who passed through these terrible 
scenes ; and partly to correct a very erroneous notion, pre- 
vailing amongst many humane and philanthropic persons, that 
Indian hostilities usually commence by aggressions of the 
*' pale faces," and that if they vi'ere treated kindly and libe- 
rally, they will be kind in turn. Individual instances have 
been referred to as proof of their general character. 

The aborigines of this country were always rude savages ; 
subsisting chiefly by fishing and hunting, and from the earli- 
est traditionary notice, were engaged in petty exterminating 
wars with each other. 

Delight in war and thirst for human blood is their " ruling 
passion." The liberal distribution of goods and provisions, 
and the promise of more ample rewards at Fort Wayne, by 
Captain Heald, could not allay this passion. They gave their 
solemn pledges for the protection of the party on their route 
to Fort Wayne, and sent out runners to rally their friends to 
the massacre the same day. 

Since the foregoing sketch was in type, we have found the 
official report of Capt. Heald, dated Pittsburgh, October 23d, 
1812. It is contained in Niles' Weekly Register, of Novem- 
ber 7th, volume iii., p. 155. It varies in some particulars, 
though in nothing material, from the documents used for the 
sketch. Probably, he wrote in part from memory. 

" On the 9th of August, I received orders from General 
Hull to evacuate the post, and proceed with my command to 
Detroit, leaving it at my discretion to dispose of the public 
property as I thought proper. The neighboring Indians got 
the information as early as I did, and came from all quarters 
to receive the goods in the factory store, which they under- 
stood were to be given to them. On the 13th, Captain Wells 
of Fort Wayne, arrived w^ith about thirty Mi amies, for the 
purpose of escorting us in by the request of General Hull. — 
On the 14th, 1 delivered the Indians all the goods in the facto- 
ry store, and a considerable quantity of provisions, which we 
could not take away with us. 

The surplus arms and ammunition, I thought proper to de- 
stroy, fearing they would make bad use of it, if put in their 
possession. 

I also destroyed all the liquor on hand, soon after they be- 
gan to collect. The collection was unusually large for that 
place, but they conducted with the strictest propriety, till after 
I left the fort. 

On he 15th, at 9 o'clock, A. M,, we commenced our march 



614 Official Report of Captain Hcald. 1812. 

— a part of the Miamies were detached in front, the remain- 
der in our rear as guards, under the direction of Captain 
Wells. The situation of the country rendered it necessary 
for us to take the beach, with the lake on our left, and a high 
bank on our right, at about one hundred yards distance. We 
proceeded about a mile and a half, when it was discovered 
the Indians were prepared to attack us from behind the bank. 

I immediately marched up the company to the top of the 
bank, when the action commenced; after firing one round, re- 
charged, and the Indians gave way in front and joined those 
on our flanks. In about fifteen minutes, they got possession 
of all our horses, provision and baggage of every description, 
and, finding the Miamies did not assist us, I drew off the few 
men 1 had left, and took possession of a small elevation in 
the open prairie out of shot of the bank or any other cover. 
The Indians did not follow me, but assembled in a body on 
the top of the bank, and, after some consultation among 
themselves, made signs to me to approach them. I advan- 
ced towards them alone, and was met by one of the Potta- 
watomie chiefs called the Blackbird, with an interpreter. 

After shaking hands, he requested me to surrender, prom- 
ising to spare the lives of all the prisoners. On a few mo- 
ments consideration, I concluded it would be the most pru- 
dent to comply with his request, although I did not put en- 
tire confidence in his promise. After delivering up our arms, 
we were taken back to their encampment near the fort, and 
distributed among the different tribes. 

The next morning they set fire to the fort, and left the 
place, taking the prisoners with them. Their number of 
warriors was between four and five hundred, mostly of the 
Pottawatomie nation, and their loss, from the best informa- 
tion I coLdd get, was about fifteen. Our strength was fifty- 
four regulars and twelve militia, out of which twenty-six 
regulars, and all the militia, were killed in the action, with 
two women and twelve children. 

Ensign George Ilonan and Doctor Isaac V. "S^an Voor- 
hees, of my company, with Captain Wells, of Fort Wayne, 
are, to my great sorrow, numbered among the dead. Lieu- 
tenant Lina T. Healm, with twenty-five non-commissioned 
oflicers and privates, and eleven women and children, were 
prisoners, when we separated. 

Mrs. Heald and myself were taken to the mouth of the 
river St. Joseph, and being both badly wounded, were per- 
mitted to reside with Mr. Burnet, an Indian trader. In a 
few days after our arrival there, the Indians all went off 
to take Fort Wayne, and in their absence I engaged a 
Frenchman to take us to Michillimackinac, by water, where 
I gave myself up as a prisoner of war, with one of my ser- 
geants. The commanding officer Captain Roberts, offered 



1812. Captain Heald and his Family. 6l5 

me every assistance in his power to render our situation 
comfortable while we remained there, and to enable us to 
proceed on our journey. To him, I gave my parole of hon- 
or, and reported myself to Colonel Proctor, who gave us a 
passage to Buffalo ; from that place 1 came by the way of 
Presqu' Isle and arrived here yesterday." 

Captain (subsequently Major) Heald, his wife and family, 
settled in the county of St. Charles, Mo., after the war, 
about 1817, where he died about fifteen years since. He 
was respected and beloved by his acquaintance. His health 
was impaired from the wounds he received. 

Mrs. Heald, who still survives him, was a daughter of the 
late Colonel Samuel Wells, of the same county, one of the 
prominent men in Kentucky, previous to, and during the 
war. 

Captain William Wayne Wells, who was killed in the bat- 
tle, we suppose to have been a brother of Colonel Samuel 
AVells, and was for some years a prisoner and adopted 
amongst the Miami Indians. Consequently he was uncle to 
Mrs. Heald, though in Indian fashion he called her sister. 

Mrs. Heald fought like a perfect heroine in the action, and 
received several wounds. After she was in the boat, a hos- 
tile Indian assailed her with his tomahawk, and her life was 
saved by the interposition of a friendly chief. 

After the defeat of General Hull, and the victories of the 
British and Indians in the North-west, the people in the 
western States, and especially in Kentucky and Ohio, became 
excited, and but one sentiment prevailed. By the middle of 
August, the whole North-west, with the exception of Fort 
Wayne and Fort Harrison, was in possession of the British 
and their red allies. 

Every citizen in the States referred to, and of the Territories 
of Indiana and Illinois, seemed animated with one desire — to 
wipe off the disgrace with which our arms had been stained, 
and to roll back the desolation that threatened the frontiers of 
Ohio and the territories beyond. 

Gov. Harrison had been appointed Brigadier-General in the 
Army of the United States in August, and, upon the urgent 
recommendation of Gen. Shelby, Henry Clay, (then Speaker 
of the House of Representatives in Congress,) the Hon. Thos. 
Todd, and others, was appointed by Gen. Scott, Major-Gene- 
ral by brevet, in the Kentucky militia, and commanded the 



616 General Harrison in Command. 1812. 

expedition to tho North-west. In the course of a few weeks 
Kentucky had about seven thousand men in the field.* 

Col. R. M. Johnson, and his brother James Johnson, were 
engaged in raising mounted men in Kentucky. Several 
regiments were directed to the aid of Indiana and Illinois. 
Vincennes was made the principal rendezvous, and General 
Samuel Hopkins, a venerable Revolutionary officer, was ap- 
pointed to the command of the Kentucky troops destined to 
march in that direction. 

In the meantime, Governor Edwards, of Illinois, was active 
in raising men and making preparations for an expedition 
against the hostile Indians on the Illinois river. 

Col. Wm. Russell, of the 17th United States' regiment, was 
engaged in raising companies of troops, denominated "Ran- 
gers," to co-operate with Governor Edwards. Their place of 
rendezvous was near the present town of Edwardsville, West 
of Cahokia, and named "Camp Russell." The scattered set- 
tlements of Illinois then extended no farther north than 
Wood river, near Alton. 

A line drawn from that point past Greenville and Mount 
Vernon to Shawneetovvn, would have enclosed all the white 
population, except a few families on the Wabash, adjacent to 
Vincennes. 

The concerted arrangement was, for General Hopkins, with 
about four thousand mounted riflemen, to move up the Wa- 
bash to Fort Harrison, cross over to the Illinois country, de- 
stroy all the Indian villages near the Wabash, march across 
the prairies to the head waters of the Sangamon and Ver- 
million rivers, form a junction with the Illinois rangers under 
Governor Edwards and Colonel Russell, and sweep over all 
the villages along the Illinois river. 

After entering the prairies of Illinois, the troops under Gen. 
Hopkins became disorderly ; were wanting in discipline and 
subordination, and the expedition was defeated in its objects. 
Success depended on the celerity and secrecy of tlicir march. 
If the Indians obtained knowledge of the approach of such 
a force, they would desert their villages and flee to the north, 
as they did. Game was abundant, especially deer, and no 
authority of the veteran General, or his aids, could prevent 
the troops, and even the subaltern officers from continually 

* NiUs' Register, ill. 25. McAffee, 106 to 109. 



1812. Expedition under Gen. Hopkins. 617 

firing at game. Add to this, the season was rainy, they had 
no competent guides, and the fourth day from Fort Harrison, 
they lost the course in th^ prairies, and returned to the 
Wabash. 

On the 29th of September, General Hopkins wrote to Gov. 
Shelby, of Kentucky, saying : 

"My present intention is to attack every settlement on the 
Wabash, and destroy their property, then fall upon the Illi- 
nois ; and I trust, in all the next month, to perform much of 
it. Serious opposition I hardly apprehend, although I intend 
to be prepared for it."* 

How mortifying to the veteran soldier must it have been to 
write the official communication he did from Fort Harrison, 
October 6th.f 

One great effect resulted from this expedition. It so alarmed 
the Indians on the waters of the Sangamon, Mackinac and 
Illinois rivers, that they retreated with their families, towards 
the north. 

For a sketch of the expedition of Col. Russell and Gover- 
nor Edwards, to the Kickapoo and Peoria towns, we are in- 
debted to a communication from the Hon. John Reynolds, of 
Belleville, Illinois, who was an officer in the expedition. Our 
limits compel us to give it in an abridged form ; still preserv- 
ing the language of the writer. 

"Towards the last of September, 1812, all the forces of 
United Stales' rangers, and mounted volunteers, to the num- 
ber of three hundred and fifty, were assembled at Camp Rus- 
sell, and duly organized, preparatory to marching against th& 
Indians, and join the army under Gen. Hopkins. Camp Rus- 
sell was one mile and a half north of Edwardsville, and thea 
on the frontier. 

Col. Russell commanded the United States' rangers ; Cols.. 
Stephenson and Rector were in command of the volunteers ; 
Maj. John Moredock, and several others, (names not recol- 
lected,) were field officers. Captains William B. Whiteside, 
James B. Moore, Jacob Short, Samuel Whiteside, Willis Har- 
grave, (perhaps others,) commanded companies. 

Colonel Jacob Judy was the Captain of a small corps of 
spies, comprising twenty- one men. [Gov. Reynolds was in 
this company.] 

The staff" of Gov. Edwards were, N. Rector, Robert K. M<;- 

*Niles' Register, iii. 170. 
t Ibid, p. 204. 

39 



618 Statement of Gover-jior Reynolds. 1812. 

Laughlin, and Nathaniel Pope. There may have been more, 
but the writer does not recollect them. 

This little army being organized, and with their provisions 
for twenty or thirty days packed on the horses they rode, (ex- 
cept in a few instances where pack horses were fitted out,) 
took up the line of march in a northwardly direction. 

Captain Craig, with a small company, was ordered to take 
charge of a boat, fortified for the occasion, with provision 
and supplies, and proceed up the Illinois river to Peoria. 

This little army at that time was all the efficient force to 
protect Illinois. We commenced the march from Camp Rus- 
sell, on the last day of September. At that period the Indians 
on the Sangamon, Mackinac and Illinois rivers were both 
numerous and hostile. 

The route lay on the west side of Cahokia creek, to the 
lake fork of the Macoupin, and across Sangamon river below 
the forks, a few miles east of Springfield. We left the Elk- 
heart grove to the left, and passed the old Kickapoo village on 
Kickapoo creek, and directed our course towards the head of 
Peoria lake. The old Kickapoo village which the Indians had 
abandoned was destroyed. As the army approached near 
Peoria, Governor Edwards despatched Lieutenant Peyton, 
James Reynolds, and some others, to visit the village of the 
Peorias, but they made no discoveries. 

There was a village of the Kickapoos and Pottawatomics 
on the eastern bluff of the Illinois river, nearly opposite the 
head of Peoria lake. 

The troops moved with rapidity and caution towards the 
village and encamped for the night within a few miles of it. 
Thomas Carlin,[late C^overnor of Illinois,] Robert Whiteside, 
Stephen Whiteside, and Davis Whiteside, M'ere sent by the 
Governor to reconnoitre the position of the enemy, and report 
to the commanding officer. This duty was performed at con- 
siderable peril, but with much adroitness. Their position was 
found to be about five miles from our troop, on a blufi', and 
surrounded by swamps impassable by mounted men, and 
scarcely by footmen. The swamps were not only miry, but 
at that time covered with high grass and brushwood, so that 
an Indian could not be discovered until within a few feet of 
him. 

In the morning early, and concealed by a dense fog, the 
army marched, and it was not long before Capt. Judy, with 
his spies, came on an Indian and squaw. The Captain shot 
him, but while staggering and singing his death song, Capt. 
Wright of Wood river settlement, incautiously approached 
him, when, with the instinctive emotions peculiar to a dying 
Indian, he shot and mortally wounded Capt. Wright, who 
died after he was brought home. The squaw was taken 
prisoner and afterwards restored to her nation. 



1812. Statement of Governor Reynolds. 619 

The army marched under the bluff, that they might reach 
the village undiscovered, but as they approached, the Indians 
with their squaws were on the retreat to their swamps. In- 
stant pursuit was given, and in a short distance from the 
village, horses, riders, arms and baggage, were overwhelmed 
in the morass. It was a democratic overthrow, for the Gover- 
nor and his horse shared the same fate as the subaltern, or 
the private soldier. We were all literally '■'■swamped.''^ 

A pursuit on foot was ordered, and executed with readiness 
but extreme difficulty. In this chase many of the enemy 
were killed, and at every step, kettles, mats, and other Indian 
property were distributed in the morass. 

Captain Samuel Whiteside, with a party, pursued the scat- 
tered enemy to the river, and several were shot in attempting 
to cross to the opposite shore. So excited were the men, that 
Charles Kitchen, Pierre Saint Jean, and John Howard, crossed 
the river on logs to follow the retreating foe. The Indians fled 
into the interior wilderness. Some of our men were wounded, 
but none killed in the charge. 

On our return to the village, some children were found hid 
in the ashes and were taken to the settlement. After destroy- 
ing their corn and other property, and securing all their 
horses, we commenced the homeward march. After travel- 
ing till dark to find a good camping ground, the rain set in, 
and the night was dark. Not knowing but that there were 
other Indian towns above, and learning that the expedition of 
Gen. Hopkins had failed to meet us, we apprehended danger 
from a night attack. Many of the soldiers had lost their 
blankets and other clothing, in the swamp, and there was 
much suffering in camp that night. 

Captain Craig arrived at Peoria with his boat, where he 
remained several days, was repeatedly attacked by Indians, 
but, being fortified, and on his own ground, sustained no dam- 
age. He returned with the stores in safety. The troops 
marched back to Camp Russell, where they were discharged. 

There are many incidents in the Annals of Illinois in 1812, 
and subsequent years, which we reserve for the Appendix. 

The Pottawatomies, Ottowas, and other hostile Indians, 
made an attack on Fort Wayne, on the 28th of August, which 
was continued by cutting off all intercourse, until the 16th of 
September, when the garrison was relieved by the force under 
Gen. Harrison. 

Early in September a fierce attack was made on Fort Har- 
rison, which was situated a short distance above Terre Haute 
Its defender was Captain Taylor, now General Taylor, the 
commander of the army in Mexico, and at present the 



620 Capt. Z. Taylor's Defence of Fort Harrison. 1812. 

most eminent of American military men ; and that his present 
position is derived from the possession of true merit was pro- 
ved by his conduct at Fort Harrison, no less than by his beha- 
vior at Palo Alto, Resaca de Palma, and Monterey, as the fol- 
lowing account will show. 

Letter from Captain Zacharj Taylor, commanding Fort Ilarrison, Indiana Territory, 
to General Harrison. 

Fort Harrison, Sept 10th. 
Dear Sir : — On Thursday evening, the third instant, after 
retreat beating, four guns were heard to fire in the direction 
where two young men (citizens who resided here) were mak- 
ing hay, about four hundred yards distant from the fort. I was 
immediately impressed with the idea that they had been kill- 
ed by the Indians, as the Prophet's party would soon be here 
for the purpose of commencing hostilities, and that they had 
been directed to leave this place, as we were about to do. I 
did not think it prudent to send out at that late hour of the 
night to see what had become of them; and their not coming 
in convinced me that I was right in my conjecture. I waited 
till eight o'clock next morning, when I sent out a corporal 
with a small party to find them, if it could be done without 
running too much risk of being drawn into an ambuscade. 
He soon sent back to inform me that he had found them both 
killed, and wished to know my further orders; I sent the cart 
and oxen, and had them brought in and buried ; they had been 
shot with two balls, scalped, and cut in the most shocking 
manner. Late in the evening of the fourth instant, old Jos. 
Lenar, and about thirty or forty Indians, arrived from the 
Prophet's town, with a white flag; among whom were about 
ten women, and the men were composed of chiefs of the 
different tribes that compose the Prophet's party. A Shaw- 
anee man, that could speak good English, informed me that 
old Lenar intended to speak to me next morning, and try to 
get something to eat. 

At retreat beating I examined the men's arms, and found 
them all in good order, and completed their cartridges to fif- 
teen rounds per man. As I had not been able to mount a 
guard of more than six privates and two non-commissioned 
officers for some time past, and sometimes part of them every 
other day, from the unhealthiness of the company, I had not 
conceived my force adequate to the defence of this post, sliould 
it be vigorously attacked, for some time past. 

As I had just recovered from a very severe attack of the fever, 
I was not able to be up much through the night. After tatoo, 
I cautioned the guard to be vigilant, and ordered one of the 
non-commissioned officers, as the sentinels could not see every 
part of the garrison, to walk round on the inside during the 
whole night, to prevent the Indians taking any advantage of 



1812. Captain Z. Taylor's Letter. 621 

us, provided they had any intention of attacking us. About 
11 o'clock I was awakened by the firing of one of the sen- 
tinels ; I sprang up, ran out, and ordered the men to their 
posts; when my orderly sergeant, who had charge of the up- i 
per block-house, called out that the Indians had fired the \ 
lower block-house, (which contained the property of the 
contractor, which was deposited in the lower part, the ^ 
upper having been assigned to a corporal and ten pri- ) 
vates as an alarm post.) The guns had begun to fire pretty 
smartly from both sides. 1 directed the buckets to be got 
ready and water brought from the well, and the fire extin- 
guished immediately, as it was perceivable at that time ; but 
from debility or some other cause, the men were very slow in 
executing my orders — the word fire appeared to throw the 
whole of them into confusion ; and by the time they had got 
the water and broken open the door, the fire had unfortunate- 
ly communicated to a quantity of whisky, (the .stock having 
licked several holes through the lower part of the building, 
after the salt that was stored there, through which they had 
introduced the fire without being discovered, as the night was 
very dark,) and in spite of every exertion we could make use , 
of, in less than a moment it ascended to the roof and baffled/ 
every effort we could make to extinguish it. As the block- \ 
house adjoined the barracks that make part of the fortifica- 
tions, most of the men immediately gave themselves up for , 
lost, and I had the greatest difficulty in getting my orders exe- :> 
cuted — and, Sir, what from the raging of the fire — the yelling 
and howling of several hundred Indians — the cries of nine 
women and children (a part soldiers' and a part citizens' 
wives, who had taken shelter in the fort) and the desponding 
of so many of the men, which was worse than all — I can as- 
sure you that my feelings were unpleasant — and indeed there 
were not more than ten or fifteen men able to do a great deal, 
the others being sick or convalescent — and to add to our other 
misfortunes, two of the strongest men in the fort, and that I 
had every confidence in, jumped the picket and left us. But 
ray presence of mind did not forsake me for a moment. I saw, 
by throwing off" a part of the roof that joined the block-house 
that was on fire, and keeping the end perfectly wet, the whole 
row of buildings might be saved, and leave only an opening 
of eighteen or twenty feet for the entrance of the Indians after 
the house was consumed ; and that a temporary breast- work 
might be executed to prevent their even entering there — I con- 
vinced the men that this might be accomplished and it appear- 
ed to inspire them with new life, and never did men act with 
more firmness and desperation. Those that were able (while 
the others kept up a constant fire from the other block-house 
and the two bastions) mounted the roofs of the houses, with 
Dr. Clark at their head, who acted with the greatest firmness . 



622 Capt. Z. Taylor's Letter. 1812. 

and presence of mind the whole time the attack lasted, which 
was seven hours, under a shower of bullets, and in less than 
a moment threw off as much of the roof as was necessary. 
This was done only with a loss of one man and two wounded, 
and I am in hopes neither of them dangerously ; the man that 
was killed was a little deranged, and did not get off the house 
as soon as directed, or he would not have been hurt — and al- 
though the barracks were several times in a blaze, and an im- 
mense quantity of fire against them, the men used such exer- 
tions that they kept it under, and before day raised a tempo- 
rary breast-work as high as a man's head, although the In- 
dians continued to pour in a heavy fire of ball and innumerable 
quantity of arrows during the whole time the attack lasted, in 
every part of the parade. I had but one other man killed, nor 
any other wounded inside the fort, and he lost his life by being 
too anxious — he got into one of the gallics in the bastion, and 
fired over the pickets, and called out to his comrades that he^ 
hadkilled an Indian, and neglecting to stoop down, in an instant 
he was shot dead. One of the men that jumped the pickets, 
returned an hour before day, and running up towards the 
'gate, begged for God's sake for it to be opened. 1 suspected 
it to be a stratagem of the Indians to get in, as 1 did not recol- 
lect the voice. I directed the men in the bastion, where I 
happened to be, to shoot him let him be who he would, and 
one of them fired at him, but fortunately he ran up to the 
other bastion, where they knew his voice, and Dr. Clark di- 
rected him to lie down close to the pickets behind an empty 
barrel that happened to be there, and at day-light I had him 
let in. His arm was broken in a most shocking manner ; 
which he says was done by the Indians — which, I suppose, was 
the cause of his returning — I think it probable that he will 
not recover. The other they caught about 130 yards from 
the garrison, and cut him all to pieces. After keeping up a 
constant fire until about six o'clock the next morning, which 
we began to return with some effect after day-light, they re- 
moved out of the reach of our guns. A party of them drove 
up the horses that belonged to the citizens here, and as they 
could not catch them very readily, shot the whole of them in 
our sight, as well as a number of their hogs. They drove off 
the whole of the cattle, which amounted to 65 head, as well 
as the public oxen. I had the vacancy filled up before night, 
(which was made by the burning of the block-house,) with a 
strong row of pickets, which I got by pulling down the guard- 
house. We lost the whole of our provisions, but must make 
out to live upon green corn until we can get a supply, which 
I am in hopes will not be long. I believe that the whole of 
the Miamies or Weas, were among the Prophet's party, as one 
chief gave his orders in that language, which resembled Stone 
Eater's voice, and I believe Negro Legs was there likewise. A 



1812. Capt. Z. Taylor's Letter. 623 

Frenchman here understands their different languages, and 
several of the Miamies or Weas, that have been frequently 
here, were recognized by the Frenchman and soldiers, next 
morning. The Indians suffered smartly, but were so numer- 
ous as to take off all that were shot. They continued with us 
until the next morning, but made no further attempt upon the 
fort, nor have we seen any thing more of them since. I have 
delayed informing you of my situation, as I did not like to 
weaken the garrison, and I looked for some person from Vin- 
cennes, and none of my men were acquainted with the woods, 
and therefore I would either have to take the road or the river, 
which I was fearful was guarded by small parties of Indians 
that would not dare to attack a company of Rangers that was 
on a scout; but being disappointed, I have at length deter- 
mined to send a couple of my men by water, and am in hopes 
they will arrive safe. I think it would be best to send the 
provisions under a pretty strong escort, as the Indians may at- j 
tempt to prevent their coming. If you carry on an expedi- ( 
tion against the Prophet this fall, you ought to be well provi-y 
ded with every thing, as you may calculate on having every 
inch of ground disputed between this and there, that they 
can with advantage. Z. TAYLOR. 

His Excellency Gov. Harrison. 

Fort Harrison, September 13, 1812. 

Dear Sir — I wrote you on the 10th instant, giving you an 
account of the attack on this place, as well as my situation, 
which account I attempted to send by water, but the two men 
whom I despatched in a canoe after night, found the river so 
well guarded, that they were obliged to return. The Indians 
had built a fire on the bank of the river, a short distance be- 
low the garrison, which gave them an opportunity of seeing 
any craft that might attempt to pass, and were waiting with a 
canoe ready to intercept it. I expect the fort, as well as the 
road to Vincennes, is as well or better watched than the river. 

But my situation compels me to make one other attempt by 
land, and my orderly sergeant, with one other man, sets out to- 
night with strict orders to avoid the road in the day time, and 
depend entirely on the woods, although neither of them have 
ever been in Vincennes by land, nor do they know any thing 
of the country, but 1 am in hopes they will reach you in safety. 
I send them with great reluctance from their ignorance of the 
woods. I think it very probable there is a large party of In- 
dians waylaying the road between this and Vincennes, likely 
about the Narrows, for the purpose of intercepting any party 
that may be coming to this place, as the cattle they got here 
will supply them plentifully with provisions for some time to 
come. Z. TAYLOR.* 

His Excellency Gov. Harrison. 

♦ Niks' Register, iii. 90.— McAfee, 153. 



624 Wm. H. Harrison Commander-in-Chief. 1812. 

But before the surrender of Hull took place, extensive pre- 
, parations had been made in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and 
Pennsylvania, to bring into service a large and efficient 
army.* Three points needed defence, Fort Wayne and the 
Maumee, the Wabash, and the Illinois river: the troops des- 
tined for the first point were to be under the command of Gen- 
eral Winchester, a revolutionary officer resident in Tennessee, 
and but little known to the frontier men ;-|- those for the Wa- 
bash were to be under Harrison, whose name since the battle 
of Tippecanoe was familiar everywhere ; while Governor 
Edwards, of the Illinois Territory, was to command the expe- 
dition upon the river of the same name. Such were the in- 
tentions of the Government, but the wishes of the people 

. frustrated them, and led, first, to the appointment of Harrison 
, to the command of the Kentucky volunteers, destined to assist 
\ Hull's army, II and next to his elevation to the post of com- 
j mander-in-chief over all the forces of the west and north-west: 
this last appointment was made September 17th, and was no- 
tified to the General upon the 24th of that month. § Mean- 
time Fort Wayne had been relieved, and the line of the Mau- 

\ mee secured;^ so that when Harrison found himself placed 
at the head of military affairs in the West, his main objects 
were, first, to drive the Indians from the western side of the 
Detroit river; second, to take Maiden ; and third, having thus 
secured his communications, to recapture the Michigan Ter- 
ritory and its dependencies.** To do all this before winter, 
and thus be prepared to conquer Upper Canada, Harrison pro- 
posed to take possession of the rapids of the Maumee and 
there to concentrate his forces and his stores ; in moving upon 
this point he divided his troops into three columns, the right 
to march from Wooster through Upper Sandusky, the centre 
from Urbana by Fort McArthur on the heads of the Scioto, 
and the left from St. Mary's by the Au-Glaize and Maumee, — 

»McAfee, 102 to 110. 

tAnnstroDg's Notices, i. 62 to 66. Appendix, No. 8, p. 203. McAfee, 131. 
JThe pro()i-iety of thia step was much questioned, See McAfee, 107, Ac. Armstrong's 
Notices, i. 58. 
gMcAfee, 140.— Also, Letter of Secretary of War, McAfee 118. 
^See the details in McAfee, 120 to 139. 
•♦Armstrong's Notices, i. 59. — McAfee, 142. 



1813. Defeat at Frenchtown. 625 

all meeting, of course, at the rapids.* This plan, however, 
failed : the troops of the left column under Winchester, worn 
out and starved, were found on the verge of mutiny, and the 
mounted men of the centre under General Tupper were una- 
ble to do any thing, partly from their own want of subordina- 
tion, but still more from the shiftlessness of their commander ;-j- 
this condition of the troops, and the prevalence of disease 
among them, together with the increasing difficulty of trans- 
portation after the autumnal rains set in, forced upon the com- 
mander the conviction that he must wait until the winter had 
bridged the streams and morasses with ice,J and even when 
that had taken place, he was doubtful as to the wisdom of an 
attempt to conquer without vessels on Lake Erie.|| 

Thus, at the close of the year 1812, nothing effectual had 
been done towards the re-conquest of Michigan : Winchester, 
with the left wing of the army was on his w^ay to the Rapids, 
his men enfeebled by sickness, want of clothes, and want of 
food; the right wing approaching Sandusky; and the centre 
resting at Fort McArthur.§ 

In December, General Harrison despatched a party of 600 , 
men against the Miami villages upon the Mississinneway, a 
branch of the Wabash. This body, under the command of 
Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, destroyed several villages, and 
fought a severe battle with the Indians, who v^^ere defeated : 
but the severity of the weather, the number of his wounded 
(forty-eight,) the scarcity of provisions, and the fear of being 
attacked by Tecumthe, at the head of 600 fresh savages, led 
Colonel Campbell to retreat immediately after the battle, with- 
out destroying the principal town of the enemy. The expe- 
dition, however, was not without results, as it induced some 
of the tribes to come openly and wholly under the protection 
and within the borders of the Republic.'Tl 

On the 10th of January, 1813, Winchester with his troops 
reached the Rapids, General Harrison with the right wing of 

*McAfee, 142, &c., 192, <fec. at the latter reference Harrison's letter is given, 
f McAfee, 146 to 151. — General Tuppor's account is in Niles' Kogister, iii. 167. 

I McAfee, 164, 165. 

II McAfee, 187, 196 to 199.— Dawson, 332, 341. 
§ McAfee, 201, 199, 163. 

^McAfee, 176 to 182. — Campbell's and Harrison's accounts are in Niles' Eegister, iii' 
316, 331. 



626 Winchestci's Movements. 1813. 

the army being still at Upper Sandusky, and Tupper with the 
centre at Fort McArthur.* From the 13th to tiie 16th, mes- 
sengers arrived at Winchester's camp from the inhabitants of 
Frenchtown on the river Raisin, representing the danger to 
which that place was exposed from the hostility of the British 
and Indians, and begging for protection. f These representa- 
tions and petitions excited the feelings of the Americans, and 
led them, forgetful of the main objects of the campaign, and 
of military caution, to determine upon the step of sending a 
strong party to the aid of the sufferers.J On the 17th, accor- 
dingly, Colonel Lewis was despatched Mith 550 men to the 
river Raisin, and soon after Colonel Allen followed with 110 
more. Marching along the frozen borders of the Bay and 
Lake, on the afternoon of the 18th, the Americans reached 
and attacked the enemy who were posted in the village, and 
after a severe contest defeated them. Having gained pos- 
session of the town. Colonel Lewis wrote for reinforce- 
ments and prepared himself to defend the position he had 
gained. 11 And it was evident that all his means of defence 
would be needed, as the place was but eighteen miles from 
Maiden, where the whole British force was collected under 
Procter. Winchester, on the 19th, having heard of the ac- 
tion of the previous day, marched with 250 men, which was 
the most he dared detach from the Rapids, to the aid of the 
captor of Frenchtown, which place he reached on the next 
evening. But instead of placing his men in a secure posi- 
tion, and taking measures to prevent the secret approach of 
the enemy, Winchester suffered the troops he had brought 
with him to remain in the open ground, and took no effi- 
cient measures to protect himself from surprise, although in- 
formed than attack might be expected at any moment."!! The 
consequence was that during the night of the 21st, the whole 
British force approached undiscovered, and erected a battery 
within 300 yards of the American camp. From this, before 
the troops were fairly under arms in the morning, a discharge 

•McAfee, 202, 203. 
t McAfee, 204. 

X Sec Colonel Allen's Speech in Armstrong's Notice?, i, 67. 
11 Lewis' account may be found in Niles' Register, iv. 49. 

^ McAfee, 211. — Winchester in his own account owns that ho entirely disregarded the 
warning given him. 



1813. Defeat at Frenchtown. 627 

of bombs, balls, and grape-shot, informed the devoted sol- 
diers of Winchester, of the folly of their commander, and in 
a moment more the dreaded Indian yell sounded on every 
side. The troops under Lewis were protected by the garden 
pickets, behind which their commander, who alone seems to 
have been upon his guard, had stationed them ; those last ar- 
rived were, as we have said, in the open field, and against 
them the main effort of the enemy was directed. Nor was it 
long so directed without terrible results; the troops yielded, 
broke and fled, but fled under a fire which mowed them down 
like grass : Winchester and Lewis, (who had left his pickets 
to aid his superior officer,) were taken prisoners. Upon the 
party who fought from behind their slight defences, however, 
no impression could be made, and it was not till Winchester 
was induced to send them what was deemed an order to sur- 
render* that they dreamed of doing so. This Procter per- 
suaded him to do by the old story of an Indian massacre in 
case of continued resistance, to which he added a promise of 
help and protection for the wounded, and of a removal at the 
earliest moment ; without which last promise the troops of 
Lewis refused to yield even when required by their General.f 
But the promise, even if given in good faith, was not redeem- 
ed, and the horrors of the succeeding night and day will long 
be remembered by the inhabitants of the frontier. Of a por- 
tion of those horrors we give a description in the words of 
an eye witness. 

Nicholasville, Kentucky, April 24th, 1813. 

Sir: — Yours of the 5th instant, requesting me to give you 
a statement respecting the late disaster at Frenchtown, was 
duly received. Rest assured, sir, that it is with sensations the 
most unpleasant, that I undertake to recount the infamous 
and barbarous conduct of the British and Indians, after the 
battle of the 22d January. The blood runs cold in my veins 
when I think of it. 

On the morning of the 23d, shortly after light, six or eight 
Indians came to the house of Jean Baptiste Jereaume, where 
I was, in company with Major Graves, Captains Hart and 
Hickman, Doctor Todd, and fifteen or twenty volunteers, be- 
longing to different corps. They did not molest any person 
or thing on their first approach, but kept sauntering about 
until there was a large number collected, (say one or two 

* He says he did not mean it for an order, but merely for advice, 
t McAfee, 215. 



628 Massacre of the Wounded. 1813. 

hundred) at -vvhich time they commenced plundering the 
houses of the inhabitants, and the massacre of the wounded 
prisoners. I was one amongst the first that was taken pris- 
oner, and was taken to a horse about twenty paces from 
the house, after being divested of a part of my clothing, and 
commanded by signs there to remain for further orders. — 
Shortly after being there, I saw them knock down Captain 
Hickman at the door, together with several others with whom 
I was not acquainted. Supposing a general massacre had 
commenced, I made an effort to get to a house about one hun- 
dred yards distant, which contained a number of wounded, 
but on my reaching the house, to my great mortification, 
found it surrounded by Indians, which precluded the possibili- 
ty of my giving notice to the unfortunate victims of savage 
barbarity. An Indian chief of the Tawa tribe, of the name 
of McCarty, gave me possession of his horse and blanket, 
telling me by signs, to lead the horse to the house which I had 
just before left. The Indian that first took me, by this time 
came up and manifested a hostile disposition towards me, by 
raising his tomahawk as if to give me the fatal blow, which 
was prevented by my very good friend M'Carty. On my 
reaching the house which I had first started from, I saw the 
Indians take off' several prisoners, which I afterwards saw in 
the road, in a most mangled condition, and entirely stripped 
of their clothing. 

Messrs. Bradford, Searls, Turner and Blythe, were collected 
round a carryall, which contained articles taken by the In- 
dians from the citizens. We had all been placed there, by 
our respective captors, except Blythe, who came where we 
were entreating an Indian to convey him to Maiden, promi- 
sing to give him forty or fifty dollars, and whilst in the act of 
pleading for mercy, an Indian more savage than the other, 
stepped up behind, tomahawked, stripped and scalped him. — 
The next that attractfd my attention, was the houses on fire 
that contained several wounded, whom I knew were not able 
to get out. After the houses were nearly consumed, we re- 
ceived marching orders, and after arriving at Sandy Creek, 
the Indians called a halt and commenced cooking ; after pre- 
paring and eating a little sweetened gruel, I\Iessrs. Bradford, 
Searls, Turner and myself, received some, and were eating, 
when an Indian came up and proposed exchanging his moc- 
casins for Mr. Searls' shoes, which he readily complied with. 
They then exchanged hats, after which the Indian inquired 
how many men Harrison had with him, and at the same time, 
calling Searls a Washington or Madison, then raised his tom- 
ahawk and struck him on the shoulder, which cut into the 
cavity of the body. Searls then caught hold of the tomahawk 
and appeared to resist, and upon my telling him his fate was 
mevilable, he closed his eyes and received the savage blow 



1813. Harrison Retreats from the Maumee. 629 

which terminated his existence. I was near enough to him 
to receive the brains and blood, after the fatal blow, on my 
blanket. A short time after the death of Searls, I saw three 
others share a similar fate. We then set out for Brownstown, 
which place we reached about 12 or 1 o'clock at night. Af- 
ter being exposed to several hours incessant rain in reaching 
that place, we were put into the council house, the floor of 
which was partly covered with water, at which place we re- 
mained until next morning, when we again received march- 
ing orders for their village on the river Rouge, which place 
we made that day, where I was kept six days, then taken to 
Detroit and sold. For a more detailed account of the pro- 
ceedings, I take the liberty of, referring you to a publication 
which appeared in the public prints, signed by Ensign J. L. 
Baker, and to the publication of Judge Woodward, both of 
which I have particularly examined, and find them to be lite- 
rally correct, so far as came under my notice. 

1 am, sir, with due regard, your fellow-citizen, 

GUSTAVUS M. BOWER, 
Surgeon's mate, 5th Regiment Kentucky Volunteers. 
Jesse Bledsoe, Esq., Lexington.* 

Of the American army, which was about 80O strong, one- 
third were killed in the battle and the massacre which follow- 
ed, and but 33 escaped. f 

General Harrison, as we have stated, was at Upper San- 
dusky when Winchester reached the Rapids ; on the night of 
the 16th word came to him of the arrival of the left wing at 
that point, and of some meditated movement. He at once 
proceeded with all speed to Lower Sandusky, and on the mor- 
ning of the 18th sent forward a battalion of troops to the sup- 
port of Winchester. On the I9th he learned what the move- 
ment was that had been meditated and made, and with addi- 
tional troops he started instantly for the falls, where he arri- 
ved early on the morning of the 20th ; here he waited the ar- 
rival of the regiment with which he had started, but which he 
had outstripped; this came on the evening of the 21st, and 
on the following morning, was despatched to Frenchtown, 
while all the troops belonging to the army of Winchester yet 
at the falls, 300 in number, were also hurried on to the aid of 

* American State Papers, xii. 372. Do. 307 to 375. 

t McAfee, 221. — See the accounts of Winchester and Major Madison in Armstrong's 
Notices, i. Appeadix No. 7. p. 196. — In Niles' Register, iv. 9 to 13, may be found the Bri. 
tish account, Winchester's, and one accompanied by a diagram: same vol. p. 29, is a full- 
er account by Winchester, and on page 83 one by Lewis and the other officers. 



630 Plan of a neio Campaign. 1813. 

their commander.* But it was, of course, in vain ; on that 
morning the battle was fought, and General Harrison with 
his reinforcements met the few survivors long before they 
reached the ground. A council being called, it was deemed 
unwise to advance any farther, and the troops retired to the 
Rapids again: here, during the night another consultation 
took place, the result of which was a determination to retreat 
yet farther in order to prevent the possibility of being cut off 
from the convoys of stores and artillery upon their way from 
Sandusky. On the next morning, therefore, the block-house, 
which had been built, was destroyed, together with the pro- 
visions it contained, and the troops retired to Portage river, 
18 miles in the rear of Winchester's position, there to await 
the guns and reinforcements which were daily expected, but 
which, as it turned out, were detained by rains until the 30th 
of January .f Finding his army 1700 strong, General Harri- 
son, on the 1st of February, again advanced to the Rapids, 
where he toolv up a new and stronger position, at which point 
he ordered all the troops as rapidly as possible to gather. He 
did this in the hope of being able before the middle of the 
month to advance upon Maiden, but the long continuance of 
warm and wet weather kept the roads in such a condition that 
his troops were unable to join him, and the project of advan- 
cing upon the ice was entirely frustrated; so at length the 
winter campaign had to be abandoned, as the autumnal one 
had been before. 

So far the military operations of the north-west had certain- 
ly been sufficiently discouraging ; the capture of Mackinac, 
the surrender of Hull, the massacre of Chicago, and the over- 
whelming defeat of Frenchtown, are the leading events. — 
Nothing had been gained, and of what had been lost nothing 
had been retaken : the slight successes over the Indians by 
Hopkins, Edwards, and Campbell, had not shaken the power 
or the confidence of Tecumthe and his allies, while the fruit- 
less eflbrts of Harrison through five months to gather troops 
enough at the mouth of the Maumee to attempt the recon- 
quest of Michigan, which had been taken in a week, depres- 
sed the spirits of the Americans, and gave new life and hope 
to their foes. 

* McAfee, 209 to 211, 227 to 235. 
t McAfee, 236 to 239. 



1813. Plan of a new Campaign. 631 

About the time that Harrison's unsuccessful campaign drew 
to a close, a change took place in the War Department, and 
General Armstrong succeeded his incapable friend. Dr. Eus- 
tis. Armstrong's views were those of an able soldier ; in Oc- 
tober, 1812, he had again addressed the Government through 
Mr. Gallatin, on the necessity of obtaining the command of 
the lakes,* and when raised to power determined to make 
naval operations the basis of the military movements of the 
north-west. His views in relation to the coming campaign 
in the west, were based upon two points, viz: the use of re- 
gular troops alone, and the command of the lakes, which he 
was led to think could be obtained by the 20th of June.f 

Although the views of the Secretary, in relation to the non- 
employment of militia, were not, and could not be, adhered 
to, the general plan of merely standing upon the defensive 
until the command of the lake was secured, was persisted in, 
although it was the 2nd of August instead of the 1st of June, 
before the vessels on Erie could leave the harbor in which 
they had been built. Among these defensive operations of 
the spring and summer of 1813, that at Fort or Camp Meigs, 
the new post taken by Harrison at the Rapids, and that at 
Lower Sandusky, deserve to be especially noticed. It had 
been anticipated that, with the opening of spring, the British 
would attempt the conquest of the position upon the Mau- 
mee, and measures had been taken by the General to forward 
reinforcements, which were detained, however, as usual, by 
the spring freshets and the bottomless roads. As had been 
expected, on the 28th of April, the English forces began the 
investment of Harrison's camp, and by the 1st of May had 
completed their batteries ; meantime, the Americans behind 
their tents had thrown up a bank of earth twelve feet high, 
and upon a basis of twenty feet, behind which the whole gar- 
rison withdrew the moment that the gunners of the enemy 
were prepared to commence operations. Upon this bank, 
the ammunition of his Majesty was wasted in vain, and dowi^ 
to the 5th, nothing was effected by either party. On that 

* Armstrong's Notices, i. ] 77, note. — Steps to command the lake had been taken before 
October.— See Niles' Register, iii. 142, 127. 

f Armstrong's Notices, i. Appendix, No. 2.3, p. 245. — The Secretary and General did not 
entirely agree as to the plans of the campaign. — See the Notices i. 176, &c. — McAfee, 249 
<fec. — Full accounts of the arrangements of the army in this year, mny be seen in Niles' 
Eeghter, iv. 145, 168, 187. 



632 Siege of Fort Meigs. 1813. 

day, General Clay, with 1200 additional troops, came down 
•the Maumee in flatboats, and, in accordance with orders re- 
! ceived from Harrison, detached 800 men under Colonel Dud- 
' ley to attack the batteries upon the left bank of the river, 
while, with the remainder of his forces, he landed upon the 
southern shore, and after some loss and delay, fought his way 
into camp. Dudley, on his part, succeeded perfectly in cap- 
turing the batteries, but instead of spiking the cannon, and 
then instantly returning to his boats, he suffered his men to 
waste their time, and skirmish with the Indians, until Proctor 
was able to cut them off from their only chance of retreat; 
taken by surprise, and in disorder, the greater part of the de- 
tachment became an easy prey, only 150 of the 800 escaping 
captivity or death.* This sad result was partially, though but 
little, alleviated by the success of a sortie made from the fort 
by Colonel Miller, in which he captured and made useless the 
batteries that had been erected south of the Maumee. f The 
result of the day's doings had been sad enough for the Ameri- 
cans, but still the British General saw in it nothing to encour- 
age him ; his cannon had done nothing, and were in fact no 
longer of value ; his Indian allies found it " hard to fight peo- 
ple who lived like groundhogs" ;J news of the American suc- 
cesses below had been received ; and additional troops were 
approaching from Ohio and Kentucky. Proctor, weighing all 
things, determined to retreat, and upon the 9th of May re- 
turned to Malden.ll 

The ship-building going forward at Erie had not, mean- 
while, been unknown to or disregarded by the English, who 
proposed all in good time to destroy the vessels upon which 
so much depended, and to appropriate the stores of the Repub- 
licans: "the ordnance and naval stores you require," said Sir 
George Prevost to General Proctor, "must be taken from the 
enemy, whose resources on Lake Erie must become yours. I 
am muoh mistaken, if you do not find Captain Barclay dis- 
posed to play that game."§ Captain Barclay was an expe- 

* Ilarrison's Report. 

t McAfee, 264 to 272. ' 

X See Tecurathe's Speech, McAfee. 

II For account of si-ge of Fort Meigs, by Harrison, &c., see Niles' Register, iv. 191, &c., 
210, Ac— For diary of siege, do. iv. 213 ; for British account, do. iv. 272.— O'Fallon's (aid 
to Gencr.ll Harrison) is in National Intelligencer, Juno 16, 1810. 

§ Letter of July 11th, giyen in Armstrong's Notices, i. AppendLs, No. 19, p. 223. 



1813. Croghan^s Defence of Fort Stephenson. 633 

rienced, brave, and able seaman, and was waiting anxiously 
for a sufficient body of troops to be spared him, in order to 
attack Erie with success ; — a sufficient force was promised 
him on the 18th of July, at which time the British fleet went 
down the lake to reconnoitre, and if it were wise, to make 
the proposed attempt upon the Americans at Erie ; none, how- 
ever, was made.* About the same time, the followers of 
Proctor again approached Fort Meigs, around which they re- 
mained for a week, effecting nothing, though very numerous. 
The purpose of this second investment seems, indeed, rather 
to have been the diversion of Harrison's attention from Erie, 
and the employment of the immense bands of Indians which 
the English had gathered at Malden,f than any serious blow; 
and finding no progress made. Proctor next moved to Sandus- 
ky, into the neighborhood of the commander-in-chief The 
principal stores of Harrison were at Sandusky, while he was 
himself at Seneca, and Major Croghan at Fort Stephenson or 
Lower Sandusky. This latter post being deemed indefensi- 
ble against heavy cannon, and it being supposed that Proctor 
would of course bring heavy cannon, if he attacked it, the 
General and a council of war called by him, thought it wisest 
to abandon it; but before this could be done after the final 
determination of the matter, the appearance of the enemy 
upon the 31st of July made it impossible. The garrison of 
the little fort was composed of 150 men, under a commander 
just past his 21st year,J and with a single piece of cannon, 
while the investing force, including Tecumthe's Indians, was, 
it is said, 3,300 strong, and with six pieces of artillery, all of 
them, fortunately, light ones. Proctor demanded a surrender, 
and told the unvarying story of the danger of provoking a 
general massacre by the savages, unless the fort was yielded: 
to all which the representative of young Croghan replied by 
saying that the Indians would have none left to massacre, if 
the British conquered, for every man of the garrison would 
have died at his post.§ Proctor, upon this, opened his fire, 
which being concentrated upon the north-west angle of the 

* Letter of General DeKottenburg, in Armstrong's Notices, i. Appendix No. 19, p. 229,. 
McAfee, 343. 

I McAfee, 297 to 299 ; 2,500 warriors were about Maiden. 
X General Harrison, quoted in McAfee, 329. 
§ McAfee, 325. 

40 



634 Perry's Victory. 1813, 

fort, led the commander to think that it was meant to make a 
breach there, and carry the works by assault; he, therefore, 
proceeded to strengthen that point by bags of sand and flour, 
I while under cover of night he placed his single six pounder in 
a position to rake the angle threatened, and then, having 
charged his infant battery with slugs, and hidden it from the 
! enemy, he waited the event. During the night of the 1st of 
August, and till late in the evening of the 2nd, the firing con- 
tinued upon the devoted north-west corner ; then, under cover 
of the smoke and gathering darkness, a column of 350 men 
approached unseen to within 20 paces of the walls. The 
musketry opened upon them, but with little effect, — the ditch 
i was o-ained,and in a moment filled with men: at that instant, 
the masked cannon, only thirty feet distant, and so directed 
as to sweep the ditch, — was unmasked and fired, — killing at 
once 27 of the assailants ; the effect was decisive, the column 
recoiled, and the little fort was saved with the loss of one 
jjja.n : on the next morning the British and their allies, hav- 
ing the fear of Harrison before their eyes, were gone, leaving 
behind them in their haste, guns, stores, and clothing.* 

[The late Governor Joseph Duncan of Illinois, then of Ken- 
tucky was an Ensign, and one of the heroic defenders of 
Fort Stephenson.] 

From this time all were busy in preparing for the long an- 
ticipated attack upon Maiden. Kentucky especially sent her 
' sons in vast numbers, under their veteran Governor, Shelby, 
and the yet more widely distinguished Richard M. Johnson. 
On the 4th of August, Perry got his vessels out of Erie into 
deep water ; but for a month was unable to bring matters to 
a crisis; on the lOth of September, however, the fleet of Bar- 
clay was seen standing out of port, and the Americans has- 
tened to receive him. Of the contest we give Perry's own 
account : 

United States schooner Ariel, Put-in-Bay, ) 

ISlh September, 1813. j 

Sir: In my last I informed you ihat we had captured the 

enemv's fleet on this lake. 1 have now the honor to give you 

the most important particulars of the action. On the morning 

of the lOlh instant, at sunrise, they were discovered from Put- 

• McAfee. 324 to 328.— The accrunt^ 1iy Croghan and II»rri«)n are in Niles' Register, 
oog xja 390. A further account and plan of the fort do. v. 7 to 9. 



18l3. Perry's Victory. 635 

in-Bay, where I lay at anchor with the squadron under my 
command. We got under weigh, the wind light at S. W. 
and stood for them. At 10 A. M. the wind hauled to S. E. 
and brought us to windward ; formed the line and brought up. 
At 15 minutes before 12, the enemy commenced firing; at 5 
minutes before 12, the action commenced on our part. Find- 
ing their fire very destructive, owing to their long guns, and 
its being mostly directed to the Lawrence, I made sail, and 
directed the other vessels to follow, for the purpose of closing 
with the enemy. Every brace and bow line being shot away, 
she became unmanageable, notwithstanding the great exer- 
tions of the Sailing Master. In this situation she sustained 
the action upwards of two hours, within canister shot distance, 
until every gun was rendered useless, and a greater part of 
the crew either killed or wounded. Finding she could no 
longer annoy the enemy, I left her in charge of Lieutenant 
Yarnall, who, I was convinced, from the bravery already dis- 
played by him, would do what would comport with the honor 
of the flag. At half past 2, the wind springing up. Captain 
Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly 
into close action ; I immediately went on board of her, when' 
he anticipated my wish by volunteering to bring the schooners, 
which had been kept astern by the lightness of the wind, into, 
close action. It was with unspeakable pain that I saw, soon 
after I got on board the Niagara, the flag of the Lawrence 
come down, although I was perfectly sensible that she had 
been defended to the last, and that to have continued to make 
a show of resistance would have been a wanton sacrifice of 
the remains of her brave crew. But the enemy was not able 
to take possession of her, and circumstances soon permitted 
her flag again to be hoisted. At forty-five minutes past two, 
the signal was made for "close action." The Niagara being 
very little injured, I determined to pass through the enemy's 
line, bore up and passed ahead of their two ships and a brig, 
giving a raking fire to them from the starboard guns, and to a 
large schooner and sloop, from the larboard side, at half pistol 
shot distance. The smaller vessels at this time having got 
within grape aud canister distance, under the direction of Cap- 
tain Elliott, and keeping up a well directed fire, the two ships, 
a brig, and a schooner, surrendered, a schooner and sloop 
making a vain attempt to escape. 

Those officers and men who were immediately under my. 
observation evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no 
doubt that all others conducted themselves as became Ameri- 
can officers and seamen.* 

Meanwhile the American army had received its reinforce- 

* American State Paper?, xiv. 295. For Perry's Letters gee Niles' Register, v. 60 to 62. 
See also Cooper's Naval History; Life of Coinmo.lore Elliott, (Philadel^liia, 1836;) Tristam 
Bnrgese' account of the battle, witli diagrams, (Boston, 1839.) 



3M 



636 Crogkan's Defeat at Fort SUpfienwn. 1813. 

ments, and was only waiting the expected victory of the 
fleet to embark. On the 27th of September, it set sail for the 
shore of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins 
of the deserted and wasted Maiden, from which Proctor had 
retreated to Sandwich, intending to make his way to the heart 
of Canada, by the valley of the Thames.* On the 29th Harrison 
was at Sandwich, and Mc Arthur took possession gf Detroit and 
the territory of Michigan. At this point Col. Johnson's mounted 
rifle regiment, which had gone up the west side of the river, re- 
joined the main army. On the 2d of October, the Americans 
began their march in pursuit of Proctor, whom they overtook 
upon the 5th. He hud posted his army with its left resting 
upon the river, while the right flank was defended by a marsh ; 
the ground between the river and the marsh was divided 
lengthwise by a smaller swamp, so as to make two distinct 
fields in which the troops were to operate. The British were 
in two lines, occupying the field between the river and small 
swamp ; the Indians extended from the small to the large 
morass, the ground being suitable to their mode of warfare, 
and unfavorable for cavalry. Harrison at first ordered the 
mounted Kentuckians to the left of the American army, that 
is, to the field farthest from the river, in order to act against 
the Indians, while with his infantry formed in three lines and 
strongly protected on the left flank to secure it against the 
savages, he proposed to meet the British troops themselves. 
Before the battle commenced, however, he learned two facts, 
which induced him to change his plans ; one was the bad na- 
ture of the ground on his left for the operations of horse ; the 
other was the open order of the English regulars, which made 
them liable to a fatal attack by cavalry. Learning these 
things, Harrison, but whether upon his own suggestion or not, 
we cannot say, ordered Colonel Johnson with his mounted 
men to charge, and try to break the regular troops, by passing 
through their ranks and forming in their rear. In arranging 
to do this, Johnson found the space between the river and 
small swamp to narrow for all his men to act in with effect ; 
so, dividing them, he gave the right hand body opposite the 
regulars in charge to his brother James, while crossing the 
swamp with the remainder, he himself led the way against 
Tecumthe and his savage followers. The charge of James 

• See official acconnta in Niles' Register, v. 117. 



1813. BatUe of the Thames. 637 

Johnson was perfectly successful ; the Kentuckians received 
the fire of the British, broke through their ranks, and forming 
beyond them, produced such a panic by the novelty of the at- 
tack, that the whole body of troops yielded at once. On the 
left the Indians fought more obstinately, and the horsemen 
were forced to dismount, but in ten minutes Tecumthe was 
dead,* and his followers, who had learned the fate of their 
allies, soon gave up the contest: — in half an hour all was 
over, except the pursuit of Proctor, who had fled at the onset. 
The whole number in both armies, was about 5000, the whole 
number killed, less than forty, so entirely was the affair deci- 
ded by panic. We have thus given an outline of the battle 
of the Thames, which practically closed the war in the north- 
west ; and to our own we add part of Harrison's official 
statement. 

The troops at my disposal consisted of about 120 regulars 
of the 27th regiment, five brigades of Kentucky volunteer 
militia infantry, under His Excellency Gov. Shelby, averaging 
less than 500 men, and Col. Johnson's rigiment of mounted in- 
fantry, making in the whole an aggregate something above 
3,000. f No disposition of an army, opposed to an Indian 
force, can be safe unless it is secured on the flanks and in the 
rear. 1 had, therefore, no difficulty in arranging the infantry 
conformably to my general order of battle. General Trotter's 
brigade of 500 men, formed the front line, his right upon the 
road and his left upon the swamp. General King's brigade 
as a second line, 150 yards in the rear of Trotter's, and Chiles' 
brigade as a corps of reserve in the rear of it. These three 
brigades formed the command of Major General Henry ; the 
whole of Gen. Desha's division, consisting of two brigades, 
were formed en potence upon the left of Trotter. 

Whilst I was engaged in forming the infantry, 1 had directed 
Col. Johnson's regiment, which was still in front, to be formed 
in two lines opposite to the enemy, and upon the advance of 
the infantry, to take ground to the left and forming upon that 
flank to endeavor to turn the right of the Indians. A mo- 
ments reflection, however, convinced me that from the thick- 
ness of the woods and swampiness of the ground, they would 
be unable to do any thing on horseback, and there was no 
time to dismount them and place their horses in security ; I 
therefore determined to refuse my left to the Indians, and to 
break the British lines at once, by a charge of the mounted 

* As to who killed Tecumthe, see Drake's life of that chief, p. 199 to 219, and Atwa- 
ter's History of Ohio, 236. 

f This estimate was too high, there were not more than 2,500. The British were nearly 
as nuineroiu. See McAfee, Dawson, &e. 



638 Battle of the Thames. 1-813. 

infantry : the measure was not sanctioned by any thing that 
I had seen or heard of, but I was fully convinced that it would 
succeed. The American backwoodsmen ride better in the 
I Avoods than any other people. A musket or rifle is no im- 
j pediment to them, being accustomed to carry them on horse- 
back from their earliest youth. I was persuaded, too, that 
the enemy would be quite unprepared for the shock, and that 
they could not resist it. Conformably to this idea, I directed 
the regiment to be drawn up in close column, with its right 
at the distance of fifty yards from the road, (that it might be 
' in some measure protected by the trees from the artillery) its 
left upon the swamp, and to charge at full speed as soon as 
the enemy delivered their fire. The few regular troops of the 
27th regiment, under their Colonel (Paull) occupied, in col- 
umn of sections of four, the small space between the road 
and the river, for the purpose of seizing the enemy's artillery, 
and some ten or twelve friendly Indians were directed to 
move under the bank. The crotchet formed by the front line, 
and General Desha's division, was an important point. At 
that place, the venerable Governor of Kentucky was posted, 
Avho at the age of sixty-six preserves all the vigor of youth, 
the ardent zeal which distinguished him in the revolutionary 
war, and the undaunted bravery which he manifested at 
King's Mountain. With my aids-de-camp, the acting assistant 
Adjutant General, Captain Butler, my gallant friend Commo- 
dore Perry, who did me the honor to serve as my volunteer 
Aid-de-camp, and Brigadier General Cass, who having no 
command, tendered me his assistance, I placed myself at the 
head of the front line of infantry, to direct the movements of 
the cavalry, and give them the necessary support. The army 
had moved on in this order but a short distance, when the 
mounted men received the fire of the British line, and were 
ordered to charge ; the horses in the front of the column re- 
coiled from the fire; another was given by the enemy, and 
our column at length getting in motion, broke through the 
enemy with irresistible force. In one minute the contest in 
front was over ; the British officers seeing no hopes of redu- 
cing their disordered ranks to order, and our mounted men 
"wheeling upon them and pouring in a destructive fire, imme- 
diately surrendered. It is certain that three only of our troops 
were wounded in this charge. Upon the left, however, the 
contest was more severe with the Indians. Colonel Johnson, 
who commanded on that flank of his regiment, received a 
most galling fire from them, which was returned with great 
eflect. The Indians still further to the right advanced and 
fell in with our front line of infantry, near its junction with 
Desha's division, and for a moment made an impression upon 
it. His Excellency, Governor Shelby, however, brought up a 
regiment to its support, and the enemy receiving a severe fire 



1814. Holmes' Expedition. 839 

in front, and a part of Johnson's regiment having gained their 
rear, retreated with precipitation Their loss was very consi- 
derable in the action, and many were killed in their retreat.* 
Those who wish to see a fuller account, are referred to the 
authorities below, many of which are easijy accessible.! 

We have said that the battle of the Thames practically 
closed the war in the north-west: — the nominal operations 
which followed were as follows : 

First was undertaken an expedition into Canada in February 
1814, by Captain Holmes, a gallant young officer whose career 
closed soon after. In the previous month the enemy had taken 
post again upon the Thames, not far above the field of Proc- 
tor's defeat; Holmes directed his movement against this 
point. Before he reached it, however, he learned that a much 
stronger force than his own was advancing to meet him, and 
taking up an eligible position upon a hill, he proceeded to 
fortify his camp, and waited their approach. They surroun- 
ded and attacked his entrenchments with great spirit, but be- 
ing met with an obstinacy and courage equal to their own, 
and losing very largely from the well-directed fire of the un- 
exposed Americans, the British were forced to retreat again, 
without any result of consequence to either party.J 

Second ; a fruitless attempt was made by the Americans to 
retake Mackinac. It had been proposed to do this in the 
autumn of 1813, after the battle of the Thames, but one of 
the storms, which at that season are so often met with upon the 
lakes, — by obliging the vessels that were bringing stores from 
below, to throw over the baggage and provisions, — defeated 
the undertaking.^ Early in the following April the expedi- 
tion up lake Huron was once more talked of; the purpose 
being two-fold, to capture Mackinac, and to destroy certain 
vessels which it was said the English were building in Glou- 

•Niles' Register, t. 130. Dawson, 427. 

I Dawson, 425 to 432. Drake's Tecutnthe, 193 to 219. Atwater's Ohio, 233 to 233. But- 
ler's Kentucky, 433 to 448. Hall's Life of Harrison. Dodd and Drake's Life of Harrison, 
See American accounts of the battle of theThames, in Niles' Register, v. 129 to 234. Bri- 
tish accounts do. 285. See also letter from R. M. Johnson in Armstrong's Notices. Ap- 
pendix, vol. i. The whole number of troops furnished by Kentucky, up to this time, was 
supposed to be about 17,400 : see particulars in Niles' Register, v. 173. 

tMcAfee, 441 to 445. Holmes' own account is in Niles' Register, vi. 115. —See also, same 
vol. p. 80. 
gMcAfee* 403. 



640 Maj. Holmes killed at Fort Mackinac. 1814. 

cester bay, at the south-east extremity ot* the Lake. This 
plan, however, was also abandoned; in part, from the want 
of men; in part, from a belief that Great Britain did not, as 
had been supposed, intend to make an effort to regain the 
command of the Upper Lakes ; and also, in part, from a mis- 
understanding between General Harrison and Col. Croghan, 
who commanded at Detroit, on the one hand, and the Secre- 
tary of War~on the other. Gen. Armstrong had seen fit to pass 
by both the officers named, and to direct his communications 
to Maj. Holmes, their junior, a breach of military etiquette 
that offended them both, and, in connection with other mat- 
ters of a similar kind, led General Harrison to resign his post.* 
No sooner, however, had the plan of April been abandoned 
than it w^as revived again, in consequence of new information 
as to the establishment at Gloucester bay, or properly at Mac- 
kadash.f In con.sequence of the orders issued upon the 2d of 
June, 750 men under Col. Croghan, embarked in the Ameri- 
can squadron commanded by Sinclair, and upon the 12th of 
July entered lake Huron. After spending a week in a vain 
effort to get into Mackadash in order to destroy the imaginary 
vessels there building, the fleet sailed to St. Josephs, which 
was found deserted ; thence a small party was sent to St. 
Mary's Falls, while the remainder of the forces steered for 
Mackinac. At the former point the trading house was des- 
troyed, and the goods seized ; at Mackinac the result was far 
different: the troops landed upon the west of the island upon 
the 4th of August, but after a severe action, in which Major 
Holmes and eleven others were killed, still found themselves 
so situated, as to lead Croghan to abandon the attempt to 
prosecute the attack ; and Mackinac was left in the possession 
of the enemy. Having failed in this effort, it was determined 
by the American leaders to make an attempt to capture the 
schooner Nancy, which was conveying supplies to the island 
fortress. In this, or rather in effecting the destruction of the 
vessel, they succeeded, and having left Lieutenant Turner to 
prevent any other provisions from Canada reaching Mackinac, 
the body of the fleet sailed for Detroit, which it reached, shat- 
tered and thinned by tempests. Meanwhile the crew of the 
Nancy, who had escaped, passed over to Mackinac in a boat 

* McAfee, 414 to 422. — Ilarrison's resignation is on 419. 
I McAfee, 421 to 425. — Armstrong's letters are given. 



1814. McArthur's Expedition. 641 

which they found, and an expedition was at once arranged by 
Lieut. Worsley, who had commanded them, for frustrat- 
ing all the plans of Croghan and Sinclair. Taking with him 
70 or 80 men in boats, he first attacked and captured the 
Tigress, an American vessel lying off St. Josephs ; the next, 
sailing down the lake in the craft thus taken, easily made the 
three vessels under Turner, his own. In this enterprize, there- 
fore, the Americans failed signally, at every point.* 

In the third place an attempt was made to control the tribes 
of the Upper Mississippi by founding a fort at Prairie du 
Chien.f Early in May, Gov. Clark of Missouri was sent 
thither, and there commenced Fort Shelby, without opposi- 
tion. By the middle of July, however, British and Indian 
forces sent from Mackinac, surrounded the post, and Lieuten- 
ant Perkins, having but 60 men to oppose to 1200, and being 
also scant of ammunition, after a defence of some days, was 
forced to capitulate : so that there again the United States 
was disappointed and defeated. J 

A fourth expedition was led by Gen, Mc Arthur, first against 
some bands of Indians which he could not find ; and then 
across the Peninsula of Upper Canada to the relief of Gen. 
Brown at Fort Erie. The object of the last movement was 
either to join General Brown, or to destroy certain mills on 
Grand river, from which it was known that the English forces 
obtained their supplies of flour. On the 26th of October, 
Mc Arthur, with 720 mounted men, left Detroit, and on the 4th 
of November was at Oxford : from this point he proceeded to 
Burford, and learning that the road to Burlington was strong- 
ly defended, he gave up the idea of joining Brown, and turn- 
ing toward the lake by the Long Point road, defeated a body 
of militia who opposed him, destroyed the mills, five or six 
in number, and managing to secure a retreat along the lake 
shore, although pursued by a regiment of regular troops nearly 
double his own men in number, — on the 17th reached Sand- 
wich again with the loss of but one man. This march, 
though productive of no very marked results, was of conse- 
quence from the vigor and skill displayed both by the com- 

* McAfee, 422 to i^7. The official accounts are in Niles' Register, viL 4, &c., IS, 156, 
173, and Appendix to same, vol. 129 to 135. 

tSee letter of Gov. Edwards to Gov. Shelby. (Niks' Register, iv. 148,) dated March 22, 
1813, given in the Appendix. 

t McAfee, 439 to 442. 



642 Peace with Indians and with England. 1814. 

maiider and his troops. Had the summer campaign of 1812 
been conducted with equal spirit, Michigan would not have 
needed to be retalten, and the labors of Perry and Harrison 
would have been uncalled for in the North-west.* 

With McArthur's march through Upper Canada the annals 
of war in the North-west closed. 

Meanwhile, upon the 22d of July, a treaty had been formed 
at Greenville, under the direction of General Harrison and 
Governor Cass, by which the United States and the faithful 
Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese, and Senecas, gave peace 
to the Miamis, Weas, and Eel river Indians, and to certain of 
the Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Kickapoos; and all the In- 
dians engaged to aid the Americans should the war with 
Great Britain continue. f But such, happily, was not to be 
the case, and on the 24th of December, the treaty of Ghent 
was signed by the representatives of England and the United 
States.J 

* McAfee, -iil to 453. — McArthur's own account is in Niles' Register, vii. 239, 282, Ac. 
f American State Papers, v. 826 to 836. — Cist's Cinoinnati Miscellany, ii. 298. 
X Holmes' Annals, ii. 471. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS. 

The British Sine qua non — Indian Treaties at the close of the War — Progress of Settle- 
ments — Trade of the Lakes — Contest of OhiD with the United States' Bank — Canals in 
Ohio — Common Schools in Ohio. 

Negotiations at Ghent. 

[It is proper here to review some of the events of 1814, con-' 
nected with the war.] 

In the summer, Mr. Madison, with the approval of the Sen- 
ate, sent out as Commissioners to negotiate peace, Messrs. 
Adams, Bayard, Clay, Russell, and Gallatin. On the part of 
His Britannic Majesty, were Lord Gannbier, Sir Henry Goul- 
burne, and Hon. William Adams. The city of Ghent, in Bel- 
gium was selected as the seat of the negotiations. On the 12th 
of August, the American Commissioners communicated to 
President Madison the purport of several conferences. This 
document Mr. Madison laid before the Senate and House of 
Representatives. On the 10th of October following, the act 
to which we allude to, had previously found a place in the 
public journals, and great indeed was the indignation of the 
people. Even many of the Federal party, who, from the first, 
had opposed the war, gave in their adhesion, and sternly re- 
solved to fight until Great Britain yielded her preposterous and 
unrighteous demands. There were several very objectiona- 
ble propositions made by the British plenipotentiaries, in lan- 
guage scarcely courteous, but one proposition was called the 
'■^Sine qua nonP The meaning, when elaborated, is, without 
which no negotiations, — no treaty. This related to their "In- 
dian allies," was the second proposition as the basis of discus- 
sion, and expressed in these words : 

"The Indian allies of Great Britain to be included in the 
pacification, and a definite boundary to be settled for their 
territories." 

The British Commissioners stated that "an arrangement on 
this point was a Sine qua non ; — that they were not authori- 
zed to conclude a treaty of peace which did not embrace the 
Indians as allies of his Britannic Majesty ; and that the es- 
tabUshment of a definite boundary of the Indian territory was 



644 The British ''Sine qua Non:' 1814. 

necessary to a permanent peace, not only with the Indians, 
but also between the United States and Great Britain." 

At a subsequent conference, explanations were asked and 
given. The commissioners on the part of the United States 
report : — 

*' We took this opportunity to remark, that no nation ob- 
served a policy more liberal and humane towards the Indians, 
than that performed by the United States ; — that our object 
had been, by all practicable means, to introduce civilization 
amongst them ; — that their possessions were secured by well 
defined boundaries ; — that their persons, lands, and other pro- 
perty, were now more effectually protected against violence 
or frauds from any quarter, than they had been under any for- 
mer government ; — that even our citizens were not allowed 
to purchase their lands ; — that when they gave up their title 
to any portion of their country to the United States, it was 
by voluntary treaty with our government, who gave them a 
satisfactory equivalent ; — and that through these means the 
United States had succeeded in preserving, since the treaty of 
Greenville of 1795, an uninterrupted peace of sixteen years, 
with all the tribes, a period of tranquility much longer than 
they were known to have enjoyed heretofore. 

" It was then expressly stated on our part, that the proposi- 
tion respecting the Indians was not distinctly understood. — 
We asked whether the pacification and the settlement of a 
boundary for them were both made a sine qua nan, which was 
answered in the affirmative." 

On the 8th of August, the Commissioners on the part of 
His Britannic Majesty, laid before the American Commission- 
ers the following protocol in writing: — 

"That the peace be extended to the Indian allies of Great 
Britain, and that the boundary of their territory' be definitely 
marked out as a permanent barrier between the dominions of 
the United States and Great Britain. Arrangements on this 
subject to be regarded a sine qua non of a treaty of peace.*" 

The boundary line established by the treaty of Greenville, 
in 1795, was the one claimed as a permanent boundary on 
the part of Great Britain, for her "Indian allies." This line 
commenced " at the mouth of the Cu^'ahoga river, run up the 
same to the portage, between that and the Tuscarawas branch 
of the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the crossing 
place above Fort Lawrence, [Laurens,] thence westerly to a 

•Nilee' Ikgistcr, vii. 70 to 76;— 81 to 92;— 218. 



1814. Demands of the British. 645 

fork of that branch of the Great Miami river, running into 
the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loromie's store, and 
where commences the portage between the Miami of the 
Ohio, and St. Mary's river, which is a branch of the Miami 
which runs into Lake Erie ; thence westerly to Fort Recove- 
ry, which stands on a branch of the Wabash ; thence south- 
westerly in a direct line to the Ohio opposite the mouth of 
the Kentucke." 

Carrying out the same principle in reference to Illinois, and 
the Indian boundary would have run from the vicinity of Fort 
Harrison across the State to a point below the mouth of the 
Illinois river. Another principle involved in the sine qua non, 
was the entire sovereignty and independence of the Indian 
confederacy ; a principle never admitted by any civilized na- 
tion, and least of all by Great Britain to bands of wandering 
savages. 

Other claims, not less preposterous and insulting, were put 
forth by the British Commissioners, — that the boundary line in 
Maine should be so altered as to afford Great Britain a direct 
communication from Quebec to Halifax ; that the right to the 
fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, and the coast of La- 
brador, which had been guaranteed as a national right in the 
treaty of 1783, should be abrogated; and that the exclusive 
naval authority of Great Britain, should be held over all the 
northern lakes. 

The reason assigned for this last insulting demand, was, 
that the British possessions of Canada might be in danger 
from American aggression, and that it would be no inconven- 
ience to the Americans, for Great Britain to have entire con- 
trol of the lake navigation. 

Of course, our Commissioners unanimously resisted all these 
claims. The able and masterly documents were from the pen 
of the late John Q. Adams. They have been pronounced by 
high authorities, as masterly productions in diplomatic corres- 
pondence. Every communication from the American Com- 
missioners was sent to London, and the British Commissioners 
waited for instructions before they replied. The claims of 
Britain were yielded only inch by inch, but before the 24th of 
December, they had given up all these questions.* 

The cause of the sine qua non, on behalf of the Indian al- 

* For the correspondence see Niles' Register, rii. 222, 239.— Treaty, Niles, viL 397, 400. 



646 Demands of the British. 18 14. 

lies of Great Britain, is to be sought in the pledges of the 
British authorities, to Tecumthe soon after, (more likely pre- 
vious to) the declaration of war in 1812. On condition that 
Tecumthe and his Indian confederation, would form an alli- 
ance, ollensive and defensive with Great Britain, that govern- 
ment would sustain them as an independent sovereignty in 
their claims to the country south of the lakes, and make the 
line established at the treaty of Greenville, the permanent 
boundary between the Indians and the United States, never 
to be abrogated without the consent of the contracting par- 
ties. Our evidence for this fact is, first, the train of events 
during the period of the war, to the termination at the treaty 
of Ghent, when the sine qua non was yielded, and their "In- 
dian allies" left to the mercy of the United Slates. Second- 
ly, we have proof from two sources, on M'hich we place great 
confidence. 

In 1818, we became acquainted with the Rev. Mr. Ruddel, 
(often spelled and pronounced Riddle,) who was taken prison- 
er in boyhood at Ruddel's station, in Kentucky, raised 
among the Shawanese, in the same village with Tecumthe, 
became an Indian in habit, and was liberated at the period of 
Wayne's treaty. He returned to Kentucky, adopted civilized 
habits, learned to read, married, professed religion and became 
a preacher of the christian sect. At the close of the war, he 
was employed by several families of Kentucky to visit the 
Indian tribes, especially the Shawanese of the North-west, to 
obtain the release of captives. Mr. Ruddel felt interested in 
the fate of his old friend Tecumthe, and from his former asso- 
ciates, learned the following particulars: That the British au- 
thorities did pledge Tecumthe to protect their interests and 
secure for them, as an ally, permanent possession of the ter- 
ritory not included in the relinquishment at Greenville ; that 
Tecumthe became dissatisfied with the delay of Gen. Proctor, 
and doubted the ability of the allied army of British and Indians 
to conquer the United States; and that a few days before the 
battle of the Thames he held a private council with his princi- 
pal chiefs and suggested, that if the British army did not act 
with more energy and promptitude, he would go over to the 
American side with all his forces, and secure by their alliance 
the rights of the Indians. Knowing the liability of Mr. Rud- 
del being deceived, in 1833 we held conversation with Billy 



1815. Cause of the ''Sine qua nony 647 

Caldwell at Chicago, heretofore mentioned, and he confirmed 
substantially the statement of Ruddel. 

He was anxious to find some trust-worthy American citi- 
zen to write the biography of Tecumthe, and gave as a reason, 
that no British ofiicer should ever perform that service to his 
distinguished friend, remarking at the same'time, "the British 
officers promised to stand by the Indians until we gained our 
object ; they basely deserted us, got defeated, and after put- 
ting in our claims in the negotiations at Ghent, finally left us 
to make peace with the Americans on the best terms we 
could. The Americans fairly whipped us, and then treated with 
us honorably, and no Briton shall touch one of my papers. 
Mr. Caldwell had a trunk well filled with papers and docu- 
ments pertaining to Tecumthe. He also confirmed Ruddel's 
statement that Tecumthe would have deserted the British 
standard, had not the battle of the Thames occurred at the 
time it did. 

We give these facts and leave our readers to draw their 
own conclusions. 

The most prominent events during 1815, pertainino- to 
the West, are the treaties negotiated with the Indians. 

The first in sequence was made at Greenville, Ohio, July 
22, 1814, by Wm. Henry Harrison and Lewis Cass, Commis- 
sioners on the part of the United States, and the Wyandots, 
Delawares, S.'iawanese, Senecas and Miaynies. In this treaty the 
Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese and Senecas made peace 
with the Miami, Eel river, and the Wea tribes ; those bands 
of the Pottawatomies, which adhered "to the Grand Sachem 
Topenebe, and the chief Onoxa; to the Ottowas of Blanch- 
ard's creek," and to several other small bands who were 
friendly to the United States. AH these tribes and bands en- 
gaged to give their aid to the United States, in prosecuting the 
war against Great Britain and her allies. On the faithful 
performance of these conditions, the United States agreed to 
confirm and establish all the boundaries between their lands 
and those of the several tribes concerned in the treaty as 
they existed before the war with Great Britain. This treaty 
was signed on the 22d July, 1814. 

About the middle of July, 1815, a large number of Indians, 
as deputies from the nations and tribes of the North-west as- 
sembled at Portage des Sioux, on the right bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, a few miles above the mouth of the Missouri, to ne- 



64S Indian Treaties at Portage des Siouz. 1815. 

gotiate treaties of peace with the United States. The Com- 
missioners were William Clark, Governor of Missouri, and 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs west of the Mississippi, 
Ninian Edwards, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Af- 
fairs in Illinois, and the lion. Auguste Chouteau of St. Louis. 
Robert Wash, Esq., was Secretary to the commission. Henry 
Dodge, Brigadier-General, with a strong military force was 
present to prevent any collision, or surprise. 

The first in order was with the Poltawatomics . Every injury, 
or act of hostility by either party against the other, was to be 
mutually forgiven ; all prisoners to be delivered up ; and " in 
sincerity of mutual friendship," every treaty, contract, and 
agreement, heretofore made between the United States and 
Pottawatomie nation to be recognized, re-established and con- 
firmed. The same day a similar treaty was made with the 
Piankcshaws. 

On the 19th of July, a series of treaties were made sepa- 
rately with several tribes of the Sioux or N'Dokatah nation. 
Similar terms were granted, as to the Pottawatomies, and 
these branches of the Sioux nation acknowledged themselves 
under the protection of the United States. 

On the 20th a similar treaty was made with the Mafias, from 
the CJpper Missouri. 

The next in order was with the Kickapoos, on the 2nd of 
September, and the conditions exactly .similar to those of the 
Pottawatomies. 

On the 13th of September, a treaty was made with that 
portion of the Sac nation of Indians, then residing on the 
Missouri river, by twelve chiefs. They affirmed they had en- 
deavored to fulfill the treaty made at St. Louis, on the third 
dav of November, 1804, in perfect good faith; and for that 
purpose had been compelled to separate themselves from the 
rest of their nation,, and remove to the Missouri river, where 
they had continued to give proofs of their friendship and fidel- 
ity; they propose to confirm and re-establish the treaty of 
1804 ; that they will continue to live separate and distinct 
from the Sacs of Rock River, and give them no aid, until 
peace shall be concluded between them and the United States. 
The United States on their part promise to allow the Sacs of 
the Missouri river, all the rights and privileges secured to them 
by the treaty at St. Louis. 



1815, Indian Treaty with the Sacs and Foxes. 649 

The next day, September 14'h, a treaty was made with the 
Fox tribe of Indians. The conditions place these Indians on 
the same footing they were before the war, and they also re- 
establish and confirm the treaty of St. Louis, of 1804. On 
the 12th September, treaties were made with the Great and 
Little Osage nations, in which every act of hostility by either 
of the contracting parties against the other, was to be mu- 
tually forgiven and forgot. The treaty of 1808, made at 
"Fort Clark," on the Missouri, was re-confirmed. 

We neglected to mention in its proper place, (p. 574,) that 
the Commissioner on the part of the United States was the 
late Colonel Pierre Chouteau, of St. Louis. Fort Clark, call- 
ed subsequently Fort Osage, was situated on the right bank of 
the Missouri, five miles above Prairie de Feu, (Fire Prairie) 
in Jackson county, a few miles below Independence. 

On the 16th of September, a treaty, (and the first we find 
on record,) was made with the Zor'.'zj/ Indians, on the same con- 
ditions as with the other hostile tribes. 

On the 28th day of October a treaty was made with the 
Kauzau nation, on the same terms. 

We will anticipate a treaty made on the 13th of May, 1816, 
that we may finish up the Indian negotiations for peace in 
this article. The same Commissioners officiated on the part 
of St. Louis, and the negotiations were transacted in St. Louis. 

As this treaty, in connection with the one already noticed,^ 
(ante page 546) and the ones with branches of the united na- 
tions of Sacs and Foxes already mentioned, will cast light ore 
the " Black Hawk war," and remove imputations cast on the 
people of Illinois and the officers of the United States, of un- 
fair treatment of the Indians. These Indians had been hos- 
tile for some years, and refused to come to the treaty ground 
the preceding year. 

A small party, led by the noted brave, Black Hawk, even 
now refused to attend the treaty, proclaimed themselves to be 
British subjects, and went to Canada to receive presents. We 
give the treaty in full.* 

Whereas, by the ninth article of the treaty of peace, which 
was concluded on the twenty-fourth of December, eighteen 
hundred and fourteen, between the United States and Great 

* For these treaties, see Indian Treaties and Laws, Washington, D. C., 1826, pp. 75, 227 
234, 23G, 203, 273, 276, 277, 273, 281, 283, 286, 289. 

41 



650 Treaty with the Sacs of Rock River. 1814. 

Britain, at Ghent, and which was ratified by the President, 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the seventeenth 
day of February, eighteen hundred and fifteen, it was stipula- 
ted that the said parties should severally put an end to all 
hostilities with the Indian tribes, with whom they might be at 
war, at the time of the ratification of said treaty ; and to 
place the said tribes inhabiting their respective territories, on 
the same footing upon which they stood befure the war: Pro- 
vided, they should agree to desist from all hostilities against 
the said parties, their citizens or subjects, respectively, upon 
the ratification of the said treaty being notified to them, and 
should so desist accordingly. 

And whereas, the United States being determined to exe- 
cute every article of the treaty with perfect good faith, and 
wishing to be particularly exact in the execution of the article 
above alluded to, relating to the Indian tribes : The President, 
in consequence thereof, for that purpose, on the eleventh day 
of March, eighteen hundred and filteen, appointed the under- 
signed, William Clark, Governor of Missouri territory, Ninian 
Edwards, Governor of Illinois territory, and Auguste Chouteau, 
Esq., o( the Missouri territory, Commissioners, with full power 
to conclude a treaty of peace and amity with all those tribes 
of Indians, conformably to the stipulations contained in the said 
article, on the part of the U. States, in relation to such tribes. 

And whereas, the Commissioners, in conformity with their 
instructions in the early part of last year, notified the Sacs of 
Rock river, and the adjacent country, of the time of the ratifi- 
cation of said treaty; of the stipulations it contained in rela- 
tion to them; of the disposition of the American government 
to fulfil those stipulations, by entering into a treaty with them, 
conformably thereto; and invited the said Sacs of Rock river, 
and the adjacent country, to send forward a deputation of 
their chiefs to meet the said Commissioners at Portage des 
Sioux, for the purpose of concluding such a treaty as afore- 
said, between the United States and the said Indians, and the 
said Sacs of Rock river, and the adjacent country, having not 
only declined that friendly overture, but having continued their 
hostilities, and committed many depredations thereafter, 
which would have justified the infiiction of the severest chas- 
tisement upon them; but having earnestly repented of their 
conduct, now emploring mercy, and being anxious to return 
to the habits of peace and friendship with the United States ; 
and the latter being always disposed to pursue the most liberal 
and humane policy towards the Indian tribes within their ter- 
ritory, preferring their reclamation by peaceful measures, to 
their punishment, by the application of the militaiy force of 
the nation — Now, therefore, 

The said William Clark, Nini.in Edwards, and Auguste 
Chouteau, Commissioners as aforesaid, and the undersigned 



1814. Treaty with the Sacs of Rock River. 651 

chiefs and warriors, as aforesaid, for the purpose of restoring 
peace and friendship between the parties, do agree to the fol- 
lowing articles : 

Art. 1. The Sacs of Rock river, and the adjacent country, 
do hereby unconditionally assent to recognize, re-establish, 
and confirm the treaty between the United States of America 
and the united tribes of Sacs and Fox Indians, which was con- 
cluded at St. Louis, on the third day of November, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and four; as well as all other contracts 
and agreements, heretofore made between the Sac tribe or 
nation, and the United Stales. 

Art. 2. The United States agree to place the aforesaid Sacs 
of Rock river, on the same footing upon which they stood be- 
fore the war; provided they shall, on or before the first day of 
July next, deliver up to the officer commanding at canton- 
ment Davis, on the Mississippi, all the property they, or 
any part of their tribe, have plundered or stolen from the 
citizens of the United States, since they were notified, as afore- 
said, of the time of the ratification of the late treaty between 
the United States and Great Britain. 

Art. 3. If the said tribe shall fail or neglect to deliver up the 
property aforesaid, or any part thereof, on or before the first 
day of July aforesaid, they shall forfeit to the United States 
all right and title to their proportion of the annuities which, 
by the treaty of St. Louis, were covenanted to be paid to the 
Sac tribe; and the United States shall forever afterwards be 
exonerated from the payment of so much of said annuities as, 
upon a fair distribution, would fall to the share of that por- 
tion of the Sacs who are represented by the undersigned chiefs 
and warriors.* 

There were some other treaties made in 1815-'16, which 
were of inferior purport, 

A careful examination of these and all other Indian trea- 
ties, with full and correct knowledge of the historical events, 
will enable every unprejudiced person to perceive that the 
course of procedure on the part of the government of the Uni- 
ted States with the aborigines of our country, has been highly 
paternal, beneficent and liberal. The conduct of Great Bri- 
tain cannot be brought in comparison. In justice and equity, 
the United States might have made and enforced remunera- 
tion in lands as a penalty for the hostilities committed, but 
the language in each treaty is " that every injury, or act of 
hostility, shall be forgiven and forgot." 

The war being over, and the Indian tribes of the north- 
west being deprived of their distinguished British ally, and 

* Indian Treaties, p. 237. 



662 Progress of Settlements. 1816. 

having consented to be at peace, confidence was restored to 
the frontier settlements, and emigration again began to push 
into the forests and prairies. 

The campaigns of the rangers and mounted volunteers, 
who had traversed the groves and prairies of Indiana, Illinois, 
Missouri and Michigan, served as explorations of new and 
fertile countries, and opened the way for thousands of hardy 
pioneers, and the formation of settlements. 

The rich and delightful lands along the waters of the Wa- 
bash, the Kaskaskia, the Sangamon, and the Illinois rivers, 
had filled their hearts with enthusiasm, and the very men, 
who in hostile array, had traversed the country, began to ad- 
vance with their families in the peaceful character of hus- 
bandmen, and to plant new settlements in all this region. 

In the Territory of Michigan, a much larger portion of the 
soil remained in possession of the aborigines than further 
south. Previous to the war, but few settlements were made 
beyond the vicinity of Detroit, and along the river Raisin. — 
These, to a great extent, had been broken up by the savages 
and their English allies during the war. It was not until a later 
period that the immigrants penetrated the interior of that ter- 
ritory. But Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, from 1816 to 1820, 
received a continuous succession of immigrants. Ohio, but 
particularly Kentucky and Tennessee, sent out vast numbers 
to these new regions, where land was abundant, cheap and 
productive. 

In the early part of 1816, Congress having previously grant- 
ed authority, a Convention was elected and assembled to form 
a State Government. A constitution was adopted and report- 
ed to Congress. It was approved by that body, and the "State 
of Indiana" received admission into the Union on the 19th 
day of April, 1816. 

The new State Government went into operation by the 
election of the Hon. Jonathan Jennings, Governor, who had 
represented the territory as Delegate in Congress from 1809. 
The General Assembly discharged its duties in the formation 
of the various departments, agreeable to the provisions of the 
constitution, and changing the territorial laws in accordance 
with its position as a State. 

We shall now give several items in the progress of the 
north-west, chiefly in Ohio, from Mr. Perkins, as found in the 



1816. Ba7iks in Ohio. 653 

first edition of these Annals; leaving all that pertains to Illi- 
nois, Missouri, and the still more recently settled regions of 
the north-west, for our Appendix. 

It ought to have been chronicled under the proper date, that 
on the 26th February, 1814, Hon. John Cleves Symmes, the 
patriarch of the settlement in the Miami country, died in Cin- 
cinnati, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was bu- 
ried at the North Bend, and his grave is to be found about 
thirty rods to the north-west of the tomb of President Harri- 
son.*] 

On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as 
a city ; it hud been incorporated as a borough on the 22d of 
April, 1794. 

In 1817 it contained five glass houses, four air-furnaces, one 
hundred and nine stores, eight steam-engines in mills, 1,303 
houses, 8,000 people, and manufactured 400 tons of nails by 
steam.f 

Columbus was this year made permanently the Capital of 
Ohio. 

Congress in 1804 had granted to Michigan a township of 
land, for the support of a College; in this year, (1817,) the 
University of Michigan was established by the Governor and 
Judges. 

During 1817, an effort was made to extinguish the Indian 
title within the State of Ohio, and had the Miamies attended 
the council, held at the Rapids of the Maumee, in September, 
it probably would have been done. As it was, Cass and Mc- 
Arthur purchased of the other tribes nearly the whole north- 
west of the Buckeye State, the number of acres, exclusive of 
reservations, being estimated at 3,694,540, for which were paid 
140,893 dollars ; being 3 cents and 8 mills an acre.J 

A full history of banking in Ohio, would as much exceed 
our limits as we fear it would tire the patience of our readers. 
But as about this time the disposition to an excess in the crea- 
tion of such institutions was plainly manifested, it may not be 
improper to mention the leading acts of the Legislature in re- 
ference to the subject. 

The earliest bank chartered was the Miami Exporting Com- 
pany of Cincinnati, the bill for which passed in April, 1803. 

* See Howe's Ohio, 235. 

•j" American Pioneer, i. 307, 309. This paper contains many facts respecting Pittsburgh. 

X American S'ate Papers, v. 131 to 140, — 149, 150, Lanman's Michigan, 230, note. 



664 Banks in Ohio. 1817. 

Banking was with this company a secondary object, its main 
purpose being to facilitate trade, then much depressed ; nor 
was it till 1808 that the first bank, strictly speaking, that of 
Marietta, was chartered. During the same session the pro- 
position of founding a State Bank was considered, and report- 
ed upon by Mr. Worthington ; it resulted in the establishment 
of the Bank of Chillicothe. From that time charters were 
granted to similar institutions up to the year 1816, when the 
great banking law was passed, incorporating twelve new 
banks, extending the charters of old ones, and making the 
State a party in the profits and capital of the institutions 
thus created and renewed, without any advance of means 
on her part. This was done in the following manner: each 
new bank was at the outset to set apart one share in twenty- 
five for the State, without payment, and each bank, whose 
charter was renewed, was to create, for the State, stock in 
the same proportion ; each bank, new and old, was yearly to 
set apart out of its profits a sum which would make, at the 
time the charter expired, a sum equal to one twenty-fifth of 
the whole stock, which was to belong to the State ; and the 
dividends coming to the State were to be invested and rein- 
vested until one-sixth of the stock was State property : — the 
last provision was subject to change by future legislatures. 

This interest of the State in her banks continued until 
1825, when the law was so amended as to change her stock 
into a tax of two per cent, upon all dividends made up to 
that time, and four per cent, upon all made thereafter. But 
before the law of 1816, in February 1815, Ohio had begun to 
raise a revenue from her banking institutions, levying upon 
their dividends a tax of four per cent. This law, however, 
was made null with regard to such banks as accepted the 
terms of the law of 1816. After 1825, no change was made 
until March, 1831, when the tax was increased to five per 
cent. 

Two important acts have been more lately passed by the 
legislature, to which we can do nothing more than refer. In 
1839, a law was enacted, appointing bank commissioners, 
who were to examine the various institutions and report up- 
on their condition. This inquisition was resisted by some of 
the banks, and much controversy followed, both in and out of 
the General Assembly. In 1845 a new system of banking 



1818. Slate of Illinois. 655 

was adopted, embracing both a State Bank with branches, 
and independent banks.* 

On the 18th of April, 1818, Congress authorized the people 
of Illinois to form a State Constitution ; this was done during 
the ensuing summer, and adopted August 26th. The north- 
ern boundary of the State as fixed b}' Congress, was latitude 
42 deg. 30 min. 

All the territory north of the new State of Illinois was at- 
tached to Michigan. I 

Great emigration took place to Michigan in consequence of 
the sale of large quantities of public lands. J 

The Walk-in-the- Water, the first steam-boat in the upper 
lakes, (Erie, Huron, and Michigan,) began her trips, going 
once as far as Mackinac. § The following sketch of the lake 
trade since that time we take from the National Intelligen- 
cer : 

In 1826 the first steamboat was seen on the waters of lake 
Michigan, a pleasure trip having been made that year to 
Green Bay; and, although during the following years similar 
trips were made to that place, it was not until 1832 that a 
boat visited Chicago. In 1833, the trade upon the upper lakes 
was carried on by eleven steamboats, costing about $360,000, 
and two trips were made to Chicago and one to Green Bay. 
In 1824, there were eighteen boats, costing $600,000, and 
three trips were made to Chicago and one to Green Bay. 
The commerce west of Detroit, at that time, and for many 
years afterwards, being almost entirely confined to the Indian 
trade and to supplying the United States' military posts, some 
small schooners were also employed. The trade rapidly in- 
creased with the population, until, in 1840, there were upon 
the upper lakes, forty-eight steamers of from 150 to 750 tons 
burden, and costing $2,000,000, the business west of Detroit 
producing to the owners about $2 01,000. In 1841, the trade 
had so augmented as to employ six of the largest boats in 
running from Buffalo to Chicago, and one to Green Bay, and 
during that year the sailing vessels had increased to about 250, 
of from 30 to 350 tons, costing about $1,250,000. In 1845 
there were upon the upper lakes, 60 vessels, including propel- 
lers, moved by steam, measuring 23,000 tons, and 320 sailing 
vessels, costing $4,600,000, some of them measuring 1,200 
tons. The increase in that year was 47 vessels, carrying 9,700 

* Burnet's Letfers, 149. — Chase's Statutes, ii. 913 to 924 ; especially sections from 34 to 
40;— ii. 1463;— iii. pp. 1820, 2022, 225.— Journals of the House for 180r-8, pp. 103, 106, 
110, 111, 121, 122, 125, 134. Report of Bank Commissioners, 1839.— Laws of 1845. p. 
24 to 54. 

jLanman, 225. JLanman, 221, gLanman, 222. 



656 Trade uf the Lakes. 1819. 

tons, and costing $650,000 ; and since the last fall 16 steam- 
ers and 14 sailing vessels of the largest class have been put 
under construction. In 1845, there were upon lake Ontario, 
fifteen steamboats and propellers, and about 100 sailing ves- 
sels, having a burden of 18,000 tons, and costing $1,500,000, 
many of which, by using the Welland canal carry on business 
with Chicago and other places on the western lakes. Since 
the close of the last season many additional vessels have been 
built on this lake. 

The commerce of the port of Buffalo alone, during the year 
1845, amounted to $33,000,000 in value; and that of all the 
other places on the lakes exceeding that amount, wouM make 
an aggregate of full 870.000,000, Avhile even this ^vould be 
greatly augmented if we could add the value of the com- 
merce of the upper lakes, which, by the way of the Welland 
canal, goes direct to the Canadian ports. The steamboats 
alone leaving Buffalo for the West in the year 1845, carried 
from that place 97,736 passengers, of whom 20,630 were lan- 
ded at Detroit, 1,670 at Mackinac, 12,775 at Milwaukie, 2,790 
at Southport, 2,750 at Racine, and 20,244 at Chicago. If to 
this aggregate we were to add the numbers arriving at Buffalo 
from the west, and the numbers leaving there in sailing vessels, 
the multitudes going between other places on those lakes, and 
some 50,000 who were passengers in the vessels on lake On- 
tario, we would have a grand total of at least 250,000 j)assen- 
gers on the lakes during the la^tyear, whose lives were sub- 
jected to all the risks attending the navigation of those waters, 
exclusive of the officers and crews of all the vessels engaged 
in that navigation. During the last five years, upwards of 
four hundred lives and property worth more than a million 
of dollars have been lost on the lakes. 

On the 24th of September, Lewis Cass concluded at Sagi- 
naw', a treaty with the Chippewas, by which another large 
part of Michigan was ceded to the United States. 

On the 20th of August, Benjamin Parke, for the United 
States, bought at Fort Harrison, of the Kickapoos of Vermil- 
lion river, all their lands upon the Wabash; while on the 30th 
of July, at Edwardsville, Illinois, Auguste Chouteau and Ben- 
jamin Stephenson, bought of the main body of the same tribe 
the claims upon the same waters, together with other lands 
reaching west to the mouth of the Illinois river.* 

In this year the United States appro[)riated $10,000 annual- 
ly towards the civilization of the Indians, but no part was at 
first expended, as the best modes of effecting the object were 
not apparent.f 

* American State Papers, vi. 194 to 200. 

■fSce Calhoun in American Sate Papers, vi. 200, 201. 



1819. Contest of Ohio with United States Bank. 657 

During IS 19 also, a report was made to Congress upon the 
Missouri fur trade, exhibiting its condition at that time and 
tracing its history: it may be found in the 6th volume of the 
American State Papers, p. 201. 

The second United States bank was chartered in 1816. On 
the 28th of January, 1817, this banJf opened a branch at Cin- 
cinnati ; and on the 13th of October following, another branch 
at Chillicothe, which did not commence banking, however, 
until the next spring. These branches Ohio claimed the right 
to tax, and passed a law by which, should they continue to 
transact business after the 15th of September, 1819, they 
were to be taxed fifty thousand dollars each, and the State 
Auditor was authorized to issue his warrant for the collection 
of such tax. This law was passed with great deliberation 
apparently, and by a full vote. The branches not ceasing 
their business, the authorities of the State prepared to collect 
their dues; this, however, the bank intended to prevent, and 
for the purpose of prevention, filed a bill in Chancery in the 
United States Circuit Court, asking an injunction upon Ralph 
Osborn, Auditor of State, to prevent his proceeding in the act 
of collection. Osborn, by legal advice, i-efused to appear up- 
on the 4th of September, the day named in the writ, and in 
his absence the court allowed the injunction, though it requir- 
ed bonds of the bank, at the same time, to the extent of $100,- 
000 ; — which bonds were given. On Tuesday, the 14th of 
September, as the day for collection drew nigh, the bank sent 
an agent to Columbus, who served upon the Auditor a copy 
of the petition for injunction, and a subposna to appear be- 
fore the court upon the first Monday in the following Januar}', 
but who had no copy of the writ of injunction which had been 
allowed. The petition and subposna Osborn enclosed to the 
Secretary of State, who was then at Chillicothe, together with 
his warrant for levying the tax ; requesting the Secretary to 
take legal advice, and if the papers did not amount to an in- 
junction, to have the warrant executed ; but if they did, to re- 
tain it. The lawyers advised tb.atthe papers were not equiva- 
lent to an injunction, and thereupon the State writ for collec- 
tion was given to John L. Harper, with directions to enter 
the banking house and demand payment of the tax ; and upon 
refusal, to enter the vault and levy the amount required : he 
was told to offer no violence, and if opposed by force, to go at 



658 Resolutions of Ohio Legislature. 1S21. 

once before a proper magistrate and depose to that fact. 
Harper, taking with him T. Orr and J. McCollister, on Friday, 
September 17th, went to the bank, and first securing access to 
the vault, demanded the tax ; pa3'ment was refused, and no- 
tice given of the injunction which had been granted ; but the 
oflicer, disregarding this notice, entered the vault, and seized 
in gold, silver and notes, ^98,000, which, on the 20th, he paid 
over to the State Treasurer, H. M. Curry. The officers con- 
cerned in this collection were arrested and imprisoned by the 
United States Circuit Court for a contempt of the injunction 
granted, and the money taken was returned to the bank. 
The decision of the Circuit Court was in Februar}^ 1824, tried 
before the Supreme Court, and its decree affirmed, whereupon 
the State submitted. Meantime, however, in December 1820, 
and January 1821, the Legislature of Ohio had passed the 
following resolutions: 

^'Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That, 
in respect to the powers of the Governments of the several 
States that compose the American Union, and the powers of 
the Federal Governmtint, this General Assembly do recognize 
and approve the doctrines asserted by the Legislatures of Ken- 
tucky and Virginia in their resolutions of November and De- 
cember, 1798, and January, 1800, and do consider that their 
principles have been recognized and adopted by a majority of 
the American people. 

Resolved, further, That this General Assembly do assert, and 
will maintain, by all legal and constitutional means, the right 
of the State to tax the business and property of any private 
corporation of trade, incorporated by the Congress of the 
United States, and located to transact its corpoiate business 
within any State. 

Resolved, further. That the Bank of the United States is a 
private corporation of trade, the capital and business of which 
may be legally taxed in any State where they may be found. 

Resolved, further, That this General Assembly do protest 
against the doctrine that the political rights of the separate 
States that compose the American Union, and their powers as 
sovereign States, may be settled and deti^rmined in the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, so as to conclude and bind 
them in cases contrived between individuals, and where they 
are, no one of them, parties direct." 



1822 Canals talked of in Ohio. 659 

In accordance with these resolves, the bank, was, f(n' a time, 
deprived of the aid of the State laws in the collection of its 
debts, and the protection of its rights; — and an attempt was 
made, though in vain, to effect a change in the Federal Con- 
stitution which would take the case out of the United States 
tribunals.* 

In November 1819, Gov. Cass had written to the War De- 
partment, proposing a tour along the southern shore of lake 
Superior, and toward the heads of the Mississippi; the pur- 
poses being to ascertain the state of the fur trade, to examine 
the copper region, and especially to form acquaintance and 
connections with the various Indian tribes. In the following 
January the Secretary of War wrote approving the plan, and 
in May the expedition started. [A full account of it by Mr. 
Schoolcraft was published at Albany, N. Y., in 1821, in one 
volume. The expedition was attended with success.] 

During this year, and from this time forward, treaties were 
made with the western and north-western tribes, extinguish- 
ing by degrees, their title throughout a great part of the ori- 
ginal north-western territory: — of these treaties we shall not 
hereafter, speak particularly, except in as far as they stand con- 
nected with the Black Hawk war of 1832. The documents can 
be found in the sixth volume of the American State Papers; up 
to 182(3 ill the Land Laws, p. 1056; in the Executive Papers 
published since 1826; — and up to 1837 in the Collection of 
Indian Treaties published at Washington in that year. [A 
list of the Indian lands in each State and Territory in 1825, 
may be found in the American State Papers, vi. 545. 

L^pon the 31st of January the Ohio Assembly passed a law 
"authorizing an examination into the practicability of con- 
necting lake Erie with the Ohio river by a canal. "f 

This act grew out of events, ^ sketch of which we think it 
may be worth while to present. 

One of the earliest modern navigable canals was made in 
Lombardy in 1271 ; it connected Milan with the Tesino. 
About the same time, or perhaps earlier, similar works were 
commenced in Holland. It was not, however, till 1755 that 

* See "state of the case for appellants, &c. (Cincinnati. 1823,) pp. 3, 5, 7. — Report of 
Ohio Lrgislrtture in American State Papers, xxi, 646, 647, 653, 654. Chase's Sketches, 43, 
44. Chase's Statutes, ii, 1072, 1185, 1198. 

f See Canal Documents published by Kilboura, p. 26. 



660 History of Canals in Ohio. 1822. 

any enterprize of the kind was undertaken in England; this 
was fullowed, three years later, by the Duke of Bridgewater's 
first canal constructed by Brindley. In 1765, an act of Parlia- 
ment authorized the great work by which Brindley and his 
patron proposed to unite Hull and Liverpool: — the Trent and 
the Mersey. This great undertaking was completed in 1777. 
The idea thus carried into effect in Great Britain was soon 
borne across the Atlantic. The great New York canal was 
suggested by Gouverneur Morris, in 1777 ; but, as early as 
1774, Washington tells us that he had thought of a sys- 
tem of improvements by which to connect the Atlantic 
with the Ohio ; which system, ten years later, he tried most 
perseveringly to induce Virginia to act upon with energy. In 
a letter to Gov. Harrison, written October 10th, 1784, he also 
suggests that an examination be made as to the facilities for 
opening a communication, through the Cuyahogo, and JMus- 
kingum or Scioto, between lake Erie and the Ohio. Such a 
communication had been previously mentioned by Jellerson 
in March, 1784; he even proposed a canal to connect the 
Cuyahoga and Big Beaver. Three years later, Washington 
attempted to interest the federal government in his views, 
and exerted himself, b\' all the means in his power, to learn 
the exact state of the country about the sources of the Mus- 
kingum and Cuyahoga. After he was called to the Presidency, 
his mind was employed on other subjects ; but the whites who 
had meantime began to people the West, used the course 
which he had suggested, (as the Indians had done before them,) 
to carr}^ goods from the lakes to the settlements on the Qhio ; 
so that it was soon known definitel}^, that upon the summit 
level were ponds, through which, in a wet season, a complete 
water connection was formed between the Cuyahoga and 
Muskingum.* 

From this time the public mind underwent various changes; 
more and more persons becoming convinced that a canal be- 
tween the heads of two rivers was far less desirable, in every 
point of view, than a complete canal communication from 
place to place, following the valleys of the rivers, and draw- 
ing water from them. In 1815, Dr. Drake, of Cincinnati, 
proposed a canal from some point on the Great Miami to the 

* Pontiy Cyclopoedia, ar:iclo "Canal." American State Papers, .\x. 832 to S3-i. Sparks' 
Washington, ix. 63. 



1822. History of Canals in Ohio. 661 

city in which he resided ; and in January, 1818, Mr., after- 
wards Governor Brown, writes thus: "Experience, the best 
guide, has tested the infinite superiority of this mode of com- 
mercial intercourse over the best roads, or any navigation of 
the beds of small rivers. In comparing it with the latter, I 
believe you will find the concurrent testimony of the most 
skilful and experienced Engineers of France and England, 
against the river, and in favor of the canal, for very numer- 
ous reasons." 

Meanwhile, along the Atlantic, various experiments had 
been tried, both in regard to improving rivers and digging 
canals. In October, 1784, Virginia, acting under the instiga- 
tion of Washington, passed a law "for clearing and improv- 
ing the navigation of James river:" in March 1792, New York 
established two companies for "Inland Lock Navigation ;" the 
one to connect the Hudson with lake Champlain, the other to 
unite it with lake Ontario, whence another canal was to rise 
round the Great Falls to Erie. These enterprises, and vari- 
ous others, were presented to Congress by Mr. Gallatin, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, in an elaborate report made April 4th, 
1808. Subsequent to this report, in April, 1811, the General 
Assembly of New York passed a Jaw fur the Great Erie canal, 
and at the head of the Commissioners was Gouverneur Mor- 
ris, who had proposed the plan thirty-four years previous. To 
aid her in this vast w^ork. New York asked the power. of 
the Federal Government, and Ohio passed resolutions in 
favor of the aid being given. No great help, however, 
was given; and New York with the strength imparted 
by the energy of Clinton, carried through her vast work ; and 
when Ohio began to speak of similar efiorts, through the same 
voice that had encouraged her during her labors, the Empire 
State spoke encouragement to her younger sister.* 

When, therefore, Governor Brown in his inaugural address 
of December 14, 1818, referred to the necessity of providing 
cheaper ways to market for the farmers of Ohio, he spoke to 
a people not unprepared to respond favorably. In accor- 
dance with the Governor's suggestion, Mr. Sill, on the 7th of 
January, 1819, moved that a committee be appointed to re- 
port on the expediency of a canal from the lake to the Ohio : 

* Repirt of Mr. Galla'in of 1S03, fou id in tha Amoricaa State Papers, xx 793 to SOI - 
also see sama, pp. 731 to 789 ; do. 769 to 730 ; do. 724 to 921. Vol. xxi. 165, 166, 178. 



662 History of Schools in Ohio. 1822. 

this was followed on the next day by a further communication 
from Governor Brown, and the subject was discussed through 
the winter. In the following December the Executive again 
pressed the matter, and in January, 1820, made a full state- 
ment of facts relating to routes, so far as they could be ascer j 
tained. Farther information was communicated in Februa- 
ry, and on the 20th of that month, an act passed, appointing 
Commissioners to determine the course of the proposed canal, 
provided Congress would aid in its construction, and seeking 
aid from Congress. That aid not having been given, nothing 
was done during 1820 or 1821, except to excite and extend 
an interest in the subject, but upon the 3d of Januar}', 1822, 
Micajah Williams, chairman of a committee to consider that 
part of the Governor's message relating to Internal Improve- 
ments, offered an elaborate report upon the subject ; and 
brought in the bill to which we have already referred as hav- 
ing been passed upon the 31st of the last mentioned month.* 

The examination authorized by that law was at once com- 
menced, Mr. James Geddes being the engineer. 

Upon the same day, (December 6, 1821.) on which Mr. 
Williams moved for a committee on canals, Caleb Atvva- 
ter moved for one upon schools ; and on the same da}- that 
the law above referred to was passed, one was also passed 
authorizing the appointment of Commissioners to report to 
the next Legislature a plan for establishing a complete sys- 
tem of Common Schools. To the history of that subject we 
next ask the reader's attention. 

The Ordinance of 1787 provided, that "religion, morality, 
and knowledge being necessary to good government and the 
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education 
shall be for ever encouraged." In the previous Ordinance of 
1785, regulating the sale of lands in the west, section No. 16 
of every township was reserved "for the maintenance of pub- 
lic schools within the said township." And the Constitution 
of Ohio, using the words of the Ordinance of 1787, says, that 
" schools and the means of instruction shall for ever be en- 
couraged by legislative provision." In accordance with the 
feelings shown in these several clauses, the Governors of Ohio 

• The message ?, resolutions, reports and laws, are all in the " Public Documcrits con- 
oerning the Ohio canals," compiled and published by John Kilbourn, Columbus, 1828 : p. 
2 top. 31. 



1822 History of Schools in Ohio. 663 

always mentioned the subject of education with great respect 
in their messages ; but nothing was done to make it general.* 
It was supposed, that people would not willingly be taxed 
to educate the children of their poor neighbors; not so much 
because they failed to perceive tlie necessity that exists for all 
to be educated, in order that the commonwealth may be safe 
and prosperous ; but because a vast number, that lived in 
Ohio, still doubted whether Ohio would be their ultimate abi- 
ding place. They came to the west to make money rather 
than to find a home, and did not care to help educate those 
whose want of education they might never feel. 

Such was the state of things until about the year 1816, at 
which time several persons in Cincinnati, who knew the ben- 
efits of a free-school system, united, and commenced a cor- 
respondence with different portions of the State. Their ideas 
being warmly responded to, by the dwellers in the Ohio Com- 
pany's purchase, and the Western Reserve more particular- 
ly, committees of correspondence w-ere appointed in the dif- 
ferent sections, and various means were resorted to, to call 
the attention of the public to the subject ; among the most 
efficient of which was the publication of an Education Alma- 
nac at Cincinnati. This work was edited by Nathan Guil- 
ford, a lawyer of that place, who had from the first taken a 
deep interest in the matter. For several years this gentleman 
and his associates labored silently and ceaselessly to diffuse 
their sentiments, one attempt only being made to bring the 
subject into the legislature: this was in December 1819, when 
Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county, brought in a bill for 
establishing common schools, which was lost in the Senate. f — 
At length, in 1821, it having been clearly ascertained, that a 
strong feeling existed in favor of a common school system 
through the eastern and north-eastern parts of the State, and 
it being also known that the western men, who were then 
about to bring forward their canal schemes, wished to secure 
the assistance of their less immediately benefited fellow-citi- 
zens, it was thought to be a favorable time to bring the free 

■*"See especially G ;vernor Worthington's message, and that of 1819 in particular. 

t Atwater's History, 254. la speaking of common schools, we mean always free schools 
established upon a State system. In January, 1821, a law was pa-^sed in Ohio, authorizing 
Tiwnship Common Schools in which the tuition, Ac, was to be paid by those parents who 
were able to pay. See Chase, ii. 1176. 



664 Canal and School Laws passed. 1825. 

school proposition forward ; which, as we have stated above, 
■was done by Mr. Atwater. 

On the 3d of January, 1823, Mr. Worthington, on behalf of 
the Canal Commissioners, presented a report upon the best 
route for a canal through the State, and a farther examina- 
tion was agreed upon ;* which was made during the year. 

The friends of the common school system continued their 
efforts, and although they did not succeed in procuring an 
assembly favorable to their views, they diffused information 
and brought out inquiry. f 

jNIichigan during this year was invested with a new form 
of Territorial Government ; Congress having authorized the 
appointment of a Legislative Council of nine members, to 
be chosen by the President from eighteen candidates elected 
by the people. J 

In 1824, the friends of canals, and those of free common 
schools in Ohio, finding a strong ojiposition still existing to 
the great plans of improvement ottered to the people, during 
this year strained every nerve to secure an Assembly in which, 
by union, both measures might be carried. Information was 
diffused and interest excited by every means that could De 
suggested, and the autumn elections were in consequence 
such as to ensure the success of the two bills which were to 
lay the foundation of so much physical and intellectual good 
to Ohio. II 

The suliject of civilizing the Indians was taken up as ear- 
ly as July, 1789, and was kept constantly in view by the 
United States Government from that time forward ; in 1819, 
ten thousand dollars annually were appropriated by Congress 
to that purpose, and great pains were taken to see that they 
were wisely expended. § In March of this year a report was 
made by jMr, JMcLean, of Ohio, upon the proposition to stop 
the appropriation above named ; again.st this proposition he 
reported decidedly, and gave a favorable view of what had 
been done, and what might be hoped for.^ 

» Ohio Canal Documents, 31 to 5n. 
t Atwater's History, 2G2. 
J Lanman's Michigan, 227. 

II See the naraoa of the membirs of the Ohio Assembly for 13i4-5, and their vot«?, in 
Atwate', 3G3. 
2 See American State Papers, vols. v. and vi. indexes. See particularly vi. CtG to 654. 
% Amcricsn State Papers, vi. 467 to 469. 



18:25. Canal and School Laws passed. 665 

Upon the 4th of February, 1825, a law was passed by Ohio, 
authorizing the making of two canals, one from the Ohio 
to Lake Erie, by the valleys of the Scioto and Muskingum; 
the other from Cincinnati to Dayton ; and a canal fund was 
created : the vote in the House in favor of the law was 58 
to 13, in the Senate 34 to 2*. 

Upon the day following, the law to provide for a system 
of common schools was also passed by large majorities. f 

These two laws were carried by the union of the friends 
of each, and by the unremitting efforts of a few public spir- 
ited men. 

[The first edition of these Annals, compiled by the late 
Mr. Perkins, contains a lapse from 1825 to 1832. The re- 
mainder, four pages, 560 to 564, is confined almost wholly 
to events in Illinois and Missouri, which the editor is ex- 
pected to give with more accuracy and in detail. We there- 
fore close the body of the work here and proceed to the Ap- 
pendix.] 

* Ohio Canal Documents, 158 to 166. Chase, ii. 1472. 
t Chase, ii. 1466. 



42 



APPENDIX. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANNALS OF UPPER LOUISIANA. 

Explorations and Discoveries. — Historical Sketch of the Lead Mines. — French Settlement 
in Illinois. — State of the country under British domination. 

A number of facts pertaining to Louisiana, and especially 
the Upper District, have been reserved for the Appendix, that 
they may appear in consecutive order, and be convenient for 
reference. These we shall group under particular heads, and 
subdivided by sections. 

SECTION FIRST. 
Explorations and Discoveries. 

During the short administration of D'Iberville, (Annals, pp. 
56, 58,) more than sixty persons perished with disease and 
famine, so that at the close of the year 1705, the colony was 
reduced to one hundred and fifty persons. 

Feeble as was the colony, attempts were made to explore 
new and distant regions. In the year 1700, M. de St. Den- 
nis, with twelve Canadians and several Indians, made a voy- 
age of discovery up Red River. After a tiresome expedition 
of six months, the party returned without gaining any mate- 
rial information concerning the Indian tribes on the Upper 
Red River. 

The same year Bienvil'e, with a party, ascended the same 
river to Bayou Pierre, visited the villages of the Yattersee 
Indians, and on the same excursion explored the Washita. — 
The next year both these rivers were more fully explored by 
St. Dennis, and in 1703, a settlement was made on the Wash- 
ita. About the same period, another settlement, with a mis- 
sion, was made on the Yazons. 

St. Dennis, with ten men, made another and more exten- 
sive exploration up Red River, into Texas, for several hundred 



668 Appendix. 

miles, meeting with no settlements until he reached " the Pre- 
sidio, or fortress of St. John the Baptist, on the Rio del Norte, 
in New Mexico." During this excursion St. Dennis, against 
the remonstrance of Don Diego Raymond, the commandant 
at the Presidio, pushed on to Mexico, and proposed a project 
of commercial intercourse between the French colony of the 
Mississippi and the Spanish colony in Mexico.* 

St. Dennis spent fourteen years in various explorations in 
Louisiana, Texas and Mexico. In 1716, he penetrated the 
interior the third time, with mules, horses and goods, from 
Nachitoches to Guadaloupe, in Texas, where the faithless 
Spaniards met him, took his goods and conveyed him to Mex- 
ico. Eventually he made his escape and came back by the 
Presidio. t 

Amongst the early explorers of Louisiana, w^c must not 
omit the name of Bernard dc la Har'pc. Major Stoddard was 
so fortunate as to find the original journal of this gentleman, 
in manuscript, and communicated it to the Department of 
State. 

La Harpe, with a body of troops, ascended Red River to 
the village of the Cadoques, in 1719, and built a fort which 
he called St. Louis dc Cartorcite. A correspondence was 
opened between him and the Spanish commandant, and also 
the Superior of the Missions in Texas. The Spanish officers 
expressed a desire to be at peace with the French, but claimed 
that the post La Harpe occupied, was within the Spanish ter- 
ritory. La Harpe replied that the Spaniards well knew the 
post on Red River was not within the dominions of Spain ; 
that the province they called Texas, formed a part of Louisi- 
ana; that La Salle had discovered and taken possession of it 
in 1685, and that this possession had been renewed at various 
times since that period ; that the Spanish adventurer, Bon 
Antonio du Miroir, who discovered the northern provinces in 
1683, never penetrated east of New Mexico, or the Rio Bra- 
vo, [Rio del Norte ;] that the French were the first to make 
alliances with the Indian nations; that the rivers flowed into 
the Mississippi, consequently the lands between them belong- 
ed to France ; and that if he would do him the pleasure of a 
visit, he would find that he occupied a post which he knew 

* Du Pratz Louisiana, pp. 7, 12. Stoddard's Sketches, p. 27. 
t Du Pratz, 12. 



Explorations and Discoveries. 669 

how to defend. Tho contest ended with this correspondence, 
and the post established by La Harpe, was maintained by 
the French until Louisiana fell into the hands of Spain after 
the treaty of 1762. 

M. de la Harpe, in 1720, with half a dozen soldiers, a few 
Indians, and eleven horses, loaded with goods and provisions, 
made an excursion from his post on Red river, to the Washita 
and Arkansas rivers. He met with a friendly reception from 
the Indians, took possession of the country, and hoisted the 
flag of France. He sold his goods profitably, and then floated 
down the Arkansas in perogues to the Mississippi, and reached 
Biloxi through Bayou Manchac, and lakes Maurepas and 
Ponchartrain. On the Arkansas, La Harpe describes an In- 
dian village of three miles in extent, containing upwards of 
four thousand inhabitants. He describes it as situated about 
one hundred and twenty miles south-west of the Osages. 

Various attempts had been made by the French to establish 
a colony on the bay of St. Bernard, without success. In 1721, 
La Harpe, under royal orders, embarked at New Orleans with 
a detachment of troops, engineers and draftsmen, to take a 
more accurate survey of the bay and country than his pre- 
decessors had done. He found eleven and a half feet of 
water on the bar at the entrance, and surveyed four large 
rivers that entered it. He described the soil along the coast 
as extremely fertile, and the country beautifull}' variegated 
with woods, prairies, and streams of pure water. This bay is 
now known as Galveston. 

Another explorer was named M. Dutisne. He was sent out 
to explore the country of the Missouris, Osages, and Panoucas. 
He ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of Saline river, 
about twenty miles below Ste. Genevieve, and from thence 
traveled westward, over a rocky, broken and timbered coun- 
try, as he reckoned, three hundred and fifty miles, to the prin- 
cipal village of the Osages. This village he describes as sit- 
uated on a hill five miles from the Osage river, and contained 
about one hundred cabins. These Indians spent but a small 
part of their time at their village, being engaged in hunting 
the other part. 

The Panoucas [Poncas ?] were in two villages, about one 
hundred and twenty miles west of the Osages, in a prairie 
country, abounding with buffaloes. Near them were three 



670 Appendix. 

hundred horses, which the Indians prized exceedingly. The 
Paonis, [Pawnees] were at the distance of four hundred and 
fifty miles. The village of the Missouris was situated three 
hu ulred and fi ty yards from the river that bears their name. 
M. Dutisne took formal possession of the country in the name 
of the king of France, and erected posts with the king's arms 
as a testimony of their claim.* 

Another party under Lesueur, ascended the Mississippi to 
the Falls of St. Anthony, which D'Akau and Hennepin had 
visited in 1680. [Annals, p. 39.] This was in 1702. 

The party under Lesueur, then proceeded up the St. Pe- 
ter's river, as they estimated, one hundred and twenty miles, 
and entered a stream they called Green river, near which they 
found a mine of copper and ochre. Here a fort was erected, 
and named VHuiller, said by the party to be in north lati- 
tude 44 deg. 13 minutes. The Indians regarding this posi- 
tion as an encroachment on their rights, the party retired in the 
course of the year to the mouth of another small river, about 
one hundred miles above the Wisconsin, where they built 
another fort, and opened mines of copper. At still another 
place, about forty miles above the river St. Croix, they found 
considerable quantities of copper, and one piece that weighed 
sixty pounds. The Indians being hostile, they found it pru- 
dent to retreat, and abandon that remote country. f 

The explorers next turned their attention up the Missouri, 
which they ascended in 1705, as far as the mouth of the Kan- 
zas river, and met with a friendly reception from the natives. 
Soon after they were engaged in a profitable trade with the 
Kanzas and Missouries. 

And here, probably, is the place to record an invasion of 
Missouri from the Spanish country. 

The Spaniards of Mexico had been successful in their per- 
fidy with St. Dennis in Texas, and in exciting the Assinais 
against the French on Red River. They knew the importance 
of the Missouri river, and were anxious to obtain a strong posi- 
tion on its border. They readily conceived that such a measure, 
if prosecuted successfully, would confine the claims of the 
French to the Illinois side of the Mississippi, and turn the 
current of the Indian trade up the Mis.souri. Their first ob- 

* Stoddard's Sketches, pp. 39 to 44. 

t Stoddard, 27. Martin's Louisiana, i. 155. 



Explorations and Discoveries. 671 

ject was to conquer the Missouri nation, who lived on the 
bank of the Missouri river, a short distance above the mouth 
of the Kanzas, and plant a colony at that place. These In- 
dians were friendly to the French, and at that time were at 
war with the Pawnees, whom the Spaniards expected to en*- 
list as their allies. 

A numerous caravan to form a considerable colony, started 
from Santa Fe, in 1720, and marched in pursuit of the Paw- 
nee villages ; but they lost their way and made the unlucky 
blunder to get among the JVIissouries, whose destruction they 
meditated. Ignorant of the country and mistaking the Mis- 
souries for Pawnees, they communicated their object without 
reserve, and requested their co-operation. The Missouries 
manifested no surprise at this unexpected visit, and only re- 
quested time to assemble their warriors. 

In forty-eight hours two thousand appeared in arms. They 
attacked the Spaniards in the night, and killed the whole 
party, except the priest, who succeeded in making his escape 
on horse-back. Some writers assert it was the Osages ; but 
the records preserved in Santa Fe, authorize the statement 
here given.* 

This bold measure of the Spaniards, in penetrating into a 
country with which they had no acquaintance, for eight hun- 
dred miles from their own, apprized the French of danger, 
and prompted them to provide a defence in that quarter. — 
Accordingly, M de Bourgmont, was dispatched with a consid- 
erable force to take possession of an Island in the Missou- 
ri river, some distance above the mouth of the Osage river, 
on which he built Fort Orleans. 

At that period the " Padoucas," whose country was north 
and west of the Missouries, were at war with the latter and 
their allies, the Kanzas, Ottoes, Osages, " Aia-ouez" [loways] 
and Pani-Mahas. M. de Bourgmont, in 1724, made an ex- 
tensive exploration from Fort Orleans, to the north-west, ac- 
companied by a few French soldiers and a large party of 
friendly Indians. His object was a general peace amongst 
all these nations, and an extensive trade with them. In this 
enterprize he was successful. He set out on the 3rd of July, 
and returned to the fort on the 5th of November. f 

* Abhe Raynal's East and West Indies, v. p. 180. Stoddard'a Sketches, 45, 46. Wet- 
more's Gazeteer, 199. 

t Du Pratz, from Bourgmont's Journal, pp. 63 to 74. 



672 Appendix. 

Soon after this event, probably the next year, Fort Orleans 
was attacked and entirely destroyed by the Indians, the French 
were all massacred, but it was never known by whom this 
bloody work was performed. From this time troubles of a 
serious nature began with the Indians, which lasted sixteen 
years.* 

In 1723, La IIarpe,with an exploring party, left the Yazoo 
river, on the l5th February, and ascended the Mississippi, and 
then the Arkansas, until he reached a village of the Arkansas 
Indians, where he found a Frenchman by the name of Du- 
boulay, who with a part}^ was stationed here to protect these 
Indians and the French traders. La Harpe then proceeded to 
" Law's grant," which lay N. N. W. from the village, on the 
right side of the river. Here was a settlement of about 
" thirty persons, of all ages and sexes," who had a small 
clearing sown with wheat. f Other explorations will come in, 
in connection with the lead mines. 

SECTION SECOND. 
• Historical Sketch of the Mines of Missouri. 

The grant of the fancied gold and silver mines of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the monstrous banking scheme of John Law, 
have already been sufficiently noticed. [Annals, pp. 59, 60.] 

The retrocession of this privilege by Crozat to the crown of 
France, was immediately followed by granting letters patent 
to " The Company of the Wcst,'^ an association of individuals 
at Paris. This company had exclusive privileges to the com- 
merce of Louisiana, and working the mines, with the right 
of disposal of the lands. The project of an exploration for 
minerals was started in France. Gold, silver and diamonds, 
— not the paltry gatherings of lead, copper and iron, — 
were the objects sought. The most liberal inducements to 
French emigrants, especially miners and mechanics, were 
held out, and Phillip Francis Renault, as the agent and man- 
ager of " the Company of St. Phillips" came out. This com- 
pany was a branch of the Company of the West, for prosecu- 
ting the mining business in Upper Louisiana. He left France 
in 1719, with 200 mechanics, miners and laborers, and pro- 
vided with all things necessary to prosecute the objects of the 
company. 

♦Stoddard, 4C. 
t Martio, L 250. 



Sketch of the Lead Mines. 673 

At St. Domingo, he bought five hundied slaves for working 
the mines, vviach he brought to Illinois, where he arrived in 
1720. 

Renault established himself and his colony a few miles 
above Kaskaskia, in what is now the south-west corner of 
Monroe county, and called the village he founded St. Phillips. 
Great excitement existed in France at the prospective suc- 
cess of Renault, and large expectations were entertained in 
returns of gold and silver, all which resulted in woful dis- 
appointment. 

From this point he sent out his mining and exploring parties 
into various sections of Illinois and Upper Louisiana, as Mis- 
souri was then called. Excavations for minerals were made 
along Drewry's creek in Jackson county, about the St. Mary in 
Randolph county, in Monroe county, along Silver creek in St. 
Clair county, and many other places in Illinois, the remains 
of which are still visible. Silver creek took its name from 
the explorers, and tradition states tliat considerable quanti- 
ties of silver ore was raised and sent over to France. It is 
thought, however, that no successful discoveries were made. 

In Missouri, the exploring and mining parties were headed 
by M. La Motte, an agent said to have been well versed in the 
knowledge of mining. In one of his earliest excursions, he 
discovered the lead mines on the St. Francois, which bears his 
name. 

Renault made various discoveries of lead, and made con- 
siderable excavations at the mines north of Potosi, Mo., that 
still bear his name ; but the company were entirely disap- 
pointed in all their high raised expectations of finding gold 
and silver. 

Renault finally turned his whole attention to the smelting 
of lead, of which he made considerable quantities. It was 
conveyed from the interior on pack horses to the jMissi^sippi 
river, sent to New Orleans in perogues, and from thence ship- 
ped to France. 

The operations of Renault were retarded and checked from 
a quarter least expected. The French King at Paris, in May, 
1719, issued an edict by which the " Company of the West" 
was united to the East India and China Company, under the 
title of the Royal Company of the Indies; (La Compagnic 
Royale des Indies.) And in 1731, the whole territory was re- 



674 Appendix. 

troceded to the crown of Franco; the objects of the company 
(including the monster bank of John Law,) [Annals, 59, 60,] 
totally failed, and Renault was left to prosecute the mining 
business without means. 

The explorations for mineral treasures extended to the banks 
of the Ohio and Kentucky rivers, and to the Cumberland Val- 
ley, in Tennessee, and even to the mountain range between 
the eastern waters and those of the Mississippi Valley. — 
" French Lick," now Nashville, was a rallying point in those 
early days, and subsequently became a trading post of the 
French, long before the pioneers from Virginia and North 
Carolina visited that range. 

The exertions of Renault on behalf of the " Company of 
the West," and his claims for services, were not passed over 
by the government. Four grants of land, already noticed, 
were made, covering large tracts of country, and which bear 
date June 14th, 1723, but whether legal, has not been decided. 

One of these was at " Old Flora,'''' on the Illinois river, said 
to embrace a copper-mine, the discovery of which was the 
consideration. Another large tract included Fort Chartres, 
and the village of St. Phillips, (called also Little Village,) in 
the south-west corner of Monroe county, Illinois, and extends 
back from the river beyond the bluffs, known still as the "Re- 
nault Grant."' 

He continued in the Illinois country many years after the 
explosion of the " Mississippi bubble." After disposing of his 
slaves, (or those of the company,) to the French inhabitants 
in Illinois, he returned to his native country, in 1744.* Thus 
ended the first series of ellbrts at mining in Illinois and Mis- 
souri. 

Very little was done in the way of mining under the Span- 
ish government. As settlements increased, after a lapse of 
years, some new discoveries were made and operations for 
lead resumed. The most important and principal discovery, 
made under Spanish authority, was 3Iifie a Burton, which 
took its name from a Frenchman who, while hunting in that 
quarter, found the ore lying on the surface of the ground. It 
is impossible now to fix the exact date of this discovery, as 
Mr. Burton, when living in 1819, could not then recollect. 

* Schoolcraft's View of the Mines, New York, 1819, pp. 14 to 17. American State Pa- 
pers, ii. 162. 



Sketch of M. Burton. 676 

only it was about forty years previous. This would make the 
discovery to have been about 1780. 

It is here pertinent to the design of this work, to introduce 
the following sketch of the life of M. Burton, as drawn from 
personal knowledge, by Col. Thos. H. Benton, of St. Louis, 
who saw Burton, and gathered the facts from him and his 
friends. The article is to be found in the " St. Louis Enquir- 
er," of October 16th, 1818. 

" He is a Frenchman from the north of France. In the 
forepart of the last century, he served in the low countries un- 
der the orders of Marshal Saxe. He was at the siege o{ Ber- 
gen op-zoom, and assisted in the assault of that place when it 
was assailed by a division of Marshal Saxe's army, under the 
command of Count Lowendahl. He has also seen service 
upon the continent. He was at the building of Fdrt Chartres, 
on the American bottom, afterwards went to Fort Du Quesne, 
(now Pittsburgh) and was present at Braddock's defeat. From 
the life of a soldier, Burton passed to that of a hunter, and in 
that character, about half a century ago, while pursuing a 
bear to the west of the Mississippi, he discovered the rich 
lead mines which have borne his name ever since. His pre- 
sent age cannot be ascertained. He was certainly an old sol- 
dier at Fort Chartres, when some of the people of the present 
day were little children at that place. The most moderate 
computation will make him one hundred and six. He now 
lives in the family of Mr. Micheaux, at the Little Rock ferry, 
three miles above Ste. Genevieve, and Avalks to that village 
almost every Sunday to attend Mass. He is whnt we call a 
square built man, of five feet eight inches high, full chest and 
forehead ; his sense of seeing and hearing somev^ hat impair- 
ed, but free from disease, and apparently able to hold out 
against time for many years to come." 

So far as the process of mining was pursued under the Span- 
ish government, it appears to have been rude and imperfect, 
and not more than fifty per cent, of lead obtained from the 
ore. The common open log furnace was the only kind em- 
ployed in smelting, and the had-ashes were thrown away as 
useless. 

In 1797, the late Moses Austin, Esq., a native of Connecti- 
cut, and who had been engaged in mining in Wythe county, 
Va., arrived in Upper Louisiana, visited and explored the 
country about Mine a Burton, and obtained a grant of land of 
one league square, from the Spanish authorities, in considera- 



676 Appendix. 

tion of erecting a reverberatory furnace and other works for 
prosecuting the mining business at those mines.* 

Associated with Mr. Austin, was his son Stephen F. Aus- 
tin, who, in 1798, commenced operations, erected a suitable 
furnace for smelting the " ashes of lead," and sunk the first 
regular shaft for raising ore. These improvements revived the 
mining business, and drew to the country many American 
families, who settled in the neighborhood of the mines. The 
next year a shot-tower was built on the pinnacle of the cliff 
near Herculaneum, under the superintendence of Mr. Elias 
Bates, and patent shot were made. A manufactory of sheet 
lead was completed the same year, and the Spanish arsenals 
at New Orleans and Havana, received a considerable part of 
their supplies for the Spanish navy from these mines. 

The enterprizing Americans soon discovered Mine Robino, 
Mine a Martin, and several others, and at the period of the 
annexation of the territory to the United States, the mines 
were extensively and advantageously worked. We give in 
connection, the names and localities of the principal mines 
worked under the Spanish government. 

Mines. Locality. 

Mine La Motte, - . - - Head of St. Francis river. 

Mine a Joe, On Flat river. 

Mine a Burton, (now Potosi, on a branch of Mineral Fork.) 

Old Mines, - - - - - - On Mineral Fork. 

Renault's Mines, on Fourche a Renault, a branch of Mineral 
Fork. 

In a few years after the cession, Shibboleth, New^ J3iggings, 
Labaume's, Biyan's, and several other mines were discovered 
and opened. 

These mines attracted the attention of the American gov- 
ernment at the earliest period, and measures were taken by 
General Wilkinson to ascertain the situation and extent of the 
mines; their annual product; the manner of working them ; 
and such other information as was necessary to the action of 
government. 

Copper mines were discovered on the ]Merrimac river, by 
the mineralogical explorers under Renault and La Motte. 

♦Howe's Virginia, Wythe county, p. J15. Scbook-raft's Lead Mines, p. 19. 



Mines of the Upper Mississippi. 677 

Several attempts were made to work them, but from some 
cause they were not successful in separating the metal from 
the slag. 

The richest mines, both of lead and copper, were discovered 
on the Upper Mississippi. They have yielded from eighty to 
ninety per cent, of pure lead. 

In 1786, Julien Dubuque, an enterprising Canadian, visited 
this region, explored its mineral wealth, returned two years 
after, and, at a council held with the Indians in 1788, obtained 
from them a grant of a large tract of land, amountino- to 
140,000 acres, beginning on the West side of the Mississippi, 

Here he resided, and obtained great wealth in mining and 
trading with the Indians, and died in 1810. His grave is 
about one mile below the city of Dubuque, in the State of 
Iowa. 

The mines of the Upper Mississippi, are between Rock 
and Wisconsin rivers on the cast, and about the same paral- 
lel on the west side of that river. 

For many years the Indians and some of the French cour- 
iers du bois, had been accustomed to dig led in the mineral 
region about Galena. But they never penetrated much be- 
low the surface, though they obtained considerable quantities 
of mineral. 

In 1823, the late Colonel James Johnson, of Kentucky, ob- 
tained a lease from the United States' government, to prose- 
cute the business of mining and smelting, which he did with a 
strong force and much enterprize. This movement attracted 
the attention of enterprising men in Illinois, Missouri, and 
other States. Some went on in 1826, more following in 1827 
and in 1827, the country was almost literally filled with 
miners, smelters, merchants, speculators, gamblers, and every 
description of character. Intelligence, enterprise, and virtue' 
were thrown in the midst of dissipation, gambling, and every 
species of vice. Such was the crowd of adventurers in 1829 
to this hitherto almost unknown and desolate region, that the 
lead business was greatly overdone, and the market for a 
while nearly destroyed. P'ortunes were made almost upon a 
turn of a spade, and lost with equal facility. The business is 
prosecuted to a great extent. Exhaustless quantities of mine- 
ral exist here, over a tract of country two hundred miles in 
extent. 

From 1821, to September, 1823, the amount of lead made 
in the vicinity of Galena, Illinois, was 335,130 pounds. Dur- 



678 Appendix. 

ing the next succeeding ten years, the aggregate was about 
seventy millions of pounds. 

Tli3 average nu nber of miners during the year 1825, was 
100; in 1826, 400; and in 1827, 1,600. Many citizens of Il- 
linois, from the counties of St. Clair, Madison, &c., went up 
the river with supplies of provision in the spring, to prosecute 
mining, and returned downward and homeward at the ap- 
proach of winter. From this trifling incident, a mischievous 
wag from "Yankeedom," ycleped the people of Illinois, "Suck- 
ers," from these migratory miners. 

Copper, in considerable quantities, is now raised and 
smelted on the Upper Mississippi. 

SECTION THIRD. 

French Settlements in Jlliiiois, 

The exact date of the first permanent settlements in Illinois, 
cannot now be ascertained, unless we regard the trading post 
of Creveccjcur, near the present site of Peoria, as the first, 
and there is no evidence that this remained a continuous, and 
therefore permanent station. [See Annals, p. 39. J 

Cahokia, (called in early times, ^'Notre Dame des Kahokias") 
from probable evidence appears to have been a trading post 
and mission station earlier than Kaskaskia. We find no evi- 
dence to sustain the statement of the author, whose very im- 
perfect and incongruous work has been attributed to Tonti, 
that La Salle, on his return from his exploration of the Lower 
Mississippi, left colonies at these places. It is inferred from 
a variety of circumstances, that both Cahokia and Kaskaskia 
were settled by traders and missionaries, as early, if not previ- 
ous to 169D. 

Father Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, and a companion of La 
Salle, appears to have been the first at Kaskaskia. It is pos- 
sible he, in company with some traders, laid the foundation of 
Kaskaskia, and, if so, its priority to Cahokia, is decided. P'a- 
ther Gravier succeeded Allouez about 1690, and the station 
was called "The Village of the Immaculate Conception of the 
Holy Virgin." 

About the period of Father Gravier, two missionaries, Pinet 
and Binniteu, came to the country. It is stated on respectable 
authority, that Father Pinet founded Cahokia, and was 
successful in converting a large number of the aborigines. 



French Settlements in Illinois. 679 

His chapel could accommodate only a part of the multitude 
that resorted to mass. The Indians were of the Cahokia and 
Tamaroas tribes, two branches of the confederacy of the Illi- 
nois. 

Binniteu followed the tribe to which he was attached, to 
their hunting grounds in the interior, where he died with a 
fever. Pinet soon after died, and Gabriel Marest joined the 
Illinois missions, and for some time appears to have had the 
whole under his charge. 

Whatever may be thought of the doctrines they taught, or 
their mode of converting Indians, by Protestants, (a question 
not necessary to be discussed in this work,) they were a heroic, 
devoted, self-sacrificing class of men. Their journals as found 
in that curious and instructive work, ^'Letters Edifianies et 
Curieuses,''^ (Curious and Edifying Letters,) give abundant 
proof of this fact, as they do of the general topography of the 
country, and the number, position and characteristics of the 
Indian tribes. 

Father Marest, in his correspondence says : "Our life is 
passed in rambling through thick woods, in climbing over hills, 
in paddling the canoes across lakes and rivers, to catch a poor 
savage who flies from us, and whom we can neither tame by 
teachings nor caresses." 

Sebastian Rasles, (or Rale, as given in his life in Sparks' 
biography,) came to Illinois in 1692. He embarked at Que- 
bec the 13th of August, 1691, spent the winter at Michilli- 
mackinac, and reached Kaskaskia the following spring. A 
letter before us gives an interesting description of the man- 
ners and customs of the Illinois Indians. He gives a descrip- 
tion of the Indian mode of torturing their prisoners, and 
says: "It was the Iroquois that invented this frightful mode 
of putting captives to death, and it is but just that the Illinois 
should repay them in the same way." Rather strange morality 
for a religious teacher. 

It is but just, however, to give these missionaries in Illinois 
the credit of putting an end to the torture of prisoners among 
the tribes under their immediate instruction. 

On the difficulties of christianizing the Indians of Illinois 
we give the following extract from the communication of 
Father Rasle, as translated from the " Lettres Edifiantes," by 
John Russell, Esq. 



6S0 Appendix. 

"That which we call Christianity, is known among the In- 
dians only by the word Prayer. When in my letters 1 say 
such and such tribes have embraced the Prayer, you are to 
understand that they have become christianized. There would 
be infuutely less diihculty in converting the Illinois, if religion 
and polygamy could go together. The Indians are ex- 
tremely pleased with having me convert their wives and chil- 
dren ; but when I talk to them they show their native incon- 
stancy, and say they cannot think of being compelled to have 
but one wife and to keep that one always. 

At the hour of Matins and Vespers all the Indians, young 
and old, attend in the chapel. All the children, except those 
of the Povvows [Jongleurs,] arc baptized. The jongleurs are 
the greatest enemies to religion. It is in the baptism of the 
infants that the great fruits of our labor are manifest, for all 
of these children do not die in infancy, and those who grow 
up to adult age, are zealous, and would sooner die than re- 
nounce their religion. It is a happy thing for the Illinois that 
they are so far from Quebec, for now brandy cannot be so 
easily brought to them as to other tribes of Canada. This 
drink is the grand obstacle to christianizing tlie Indians, and 
the source of infinite crimes. 

Father Rasle continued in Illinois two years, when he was 
recalled by the Superior and stationed among the Aberna- 
quis in Maine, where himself and Indian converts were bar- 
barously massacred by a party of New Englanders.* 

Charlevoix, in a series of letters addressed to the Duchess 
Lesdiguieres, entitled " Journal of a Voyage to North Ameri- 
ca,* writes from Kaskaskia, October 20th, 1721, as follows 
about Cahokia: — 

" We lay last night in a village of the Caoquias and the 
Tamarous, two Illinois tribes which have been united, and to- 
gether compose no very numerous canton. This village is 
situated on a very small river which runs from the east, and 
has no water but in the spring season, so that we were obliged 
to walk half a league, before we could get to our cabins. I 
was astonished tliey had pitched upon so inconvenient a situa- 
tion, especially as they had so many better in their choice. — 
But I was told the Mississippi washed the foot of that village 
when it was built ; that in three years it had lost half a league 
of its breadth, and that the}' were thinking of seeking out for 
another habitation, which is no great afl'air among the Indians. 

"I passed the night in the missionaries' house, who are two 
ecclesiastics from the {Seminary of Quebec, formerly my dis- 
ciples, but they must now be my masters. 

* Sco his Life in Spark's Biography, second series. 



French Settlements in Illinois. 681 

M. Taumur, the eldest of the two, was absent; but I found 
the youngest, M. le Mercier. such as he had been represented 
to me, rigid to himself, full of charity to others, and display- 
ing in his own person, an amiable pattern of virtue." 

Of Kaskaskia and the mission there, Father Charlevoix 
says, (p 221.) 

" Yesterday I arrived at Kaskasquias about nine o'clock in 
the morning. The Jesuits have here a veiy flourishing mis- 
sion, which has lately been divided into two, thinking it con- 
venient to have two cantons of Indians instead of one. The 
most numerous is on the banks of the Mississippi, of which 
two Jesuits have the spiritual direction : half a league below 
stands Fort Chartres, about the distance of a musket shot 
from the river. M. de Boisbrilliard, a gentleman of Canada, 
commands here for the company, to whom this place belongs; 
the French are now beginning to settle the country between 
this fort and the first mission. Four leagues farther and about 
a league from the river, is a large village inhabited by the 
French, who are almost all Canadians and have a Jesuit for 
their curate. The second village of the Illinois lies farther 
up the country, at the distance of two leagues from this last, 
and is under the charge of a fourth Jesuit. 

The French in this place live pretty much at their ease; a 
Fleming, who was a domestic of the Jesuits, has taught them 
to sow wheat which succeeds very well. They have black 
cattle and poultry. The Illinois on their part manure the 
ground after their fashion, and are very laborious. They like- 
wise bring up poultry, which they sell to the French. Their 
women are very neat-handed and industrious. They spin the 
wool of the buflalo, which they make as fine as that of the 
English sheep ; nay sometimes it might even be mistaken for 
silk. Of this they manufacture stuffs which are dyed blacky 
yellow, or a deep red. Of these stuffs they make robes which 
they sew with thread made of the sinews of the roe-buck. — 
The manner of making this thread is very simple. After 
stripping the flesh from the sinews of the roe-buck, they ex- 
pose them to the sun for the space of two days : after they 
are dry they beat them, and then without difficulty draw out 
a thread as white and as fine as that of Mechlin, but much 
stronger." 

Besides those already mentioned, between the years 1680 
and 1700, we find the names of Gabriel de la Ribourdie and 
Zenobe Mambre, as missionaries in Illinois. A congregation 
composed of a few Frenchmen, and, probably, some Indians 
especially females, was collected near Fort St. Louis, on the 
" Great Rock." This was on the Illinois river a few miles be- 
43 



682 Appendix. 

low the present site of Ottawa. The traders generally mar- 
ried Indian wives and lived in amity with them. The success 
in converting Indians, even to the Catholic faith, was not 
great, for Father Gravier mentions only seven persons as bap- 
tized, in his register of baptisms among the Indians, from the 
20th of March, 1695, to the 22iid of February, 1699.* 

In the year 1718, the Directors of the Company of the West, 
sent M. de Boisbriant, with a small military force, to establish 
a post near Kaskaskia, and the same year he began a fortifi- 
cation called Fort Charlrcs. (This is probably the same offi- 
cer Charlevoix names Boisbriiliard.) What rule of military 
engineering was his guide in fixing the site on the American 
bottom, three miles from the quarry of rock, " a musket shot 
from the river,' and on ground subject to inundation, we cannot 
conjecture. A more unfortunate location could not have been 
selected. Some historians have stated that this fort was con- 
structed for a defence against Spanish aggression. But at the 
period it was commenced, no Spanish post existed nearer than 
Santa Fe, and no one dreamed of an attack from that quar- 
ter. The object was protection to the villages and the min- 
ing companies about to be sent forth, from any hostile demon- 
strations of the Indians. 

The plan of the structure erected by M, Boisbriant is un- 
known to the writer. Another structure built on the same site 
in 175G, will be noticed in the next section. 

During the years of 1718 and 1719, the French settlements 
of Cahokia, Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, were increased by 
immigration from Canada, and from France by the way of 
New Orleans. M. Renault, as has been noticed in the pre- 
ceding section, brought with him a large number of European 
adventurers, and 500 slaves from the West Indies. 

On the 2nd of September, 1721, the council deputed by the 
King of France, for the government of the Royal Company 
of the Indies, enacted a scries of articles, regulating trade, 
commerce, and even prices. This ordinance may be found in 
Dillon's Indiana, volume i. pages 40, 44. 

The trade and commerce of Louisiana was monopolized by 
the Company of the Indies, and for the upper district the fac- 
tory or stone house was established at Fort Chartres. The 
comn^ndant of that post, M. Pierre Duque Boisbriant, the re- 

• Dillon'i) Indiana, i. 27. 



Grants of Land in Illinois. 683 

presentative of the crown, and the Commissary of Company, 
or "Principal Secretary," Marc Antoine de la Loire De Ur- 
sins, jointly acted in granting lands. 

The oldest on record of which we are aware, is a grant 
made on the 10th of May, 1722,* to Charles Danie. The next 
is on the 22nd of June, the same year, at which time Brois- 
briant and Des Ursins made a grant to the missionaries of Ca- 
hokia and Tamarois, '* a tract of four leagues of land square," 
(as expressed in the grant,) bounded on the west side of the 
Mississippi, including the adjacent islands, beginning a "quar- 
ter of a league above the little river of Cahokia," and ex- 
tending south and east for quantity. This grant was in fee 
simple, and from it have emanated the titles to the village 
tract and common fields of Cahokia.f 

In the Annals, page 195, we mentioned the concealment or 
destruction of papers by Madame Rocheblave, the Governor's 
wife, when Kaskaskia was taken by General Clark. It is 
supposed that many of the grants and concessions perished at 
this or some other period. 

There are no events of material importance in the records 
of history, from the dissolution of the Company of the Indies, 
until the war between England and France of 1756; the year 
in which Fort Chartres was rebuilt, a sketch of which is con- 
tained in the next section. The male population of the country, 
inaddilion to the cultivation of their farms, were the voyageurs 
on the rivers, and the courieurs des bois in the trading expedi- 
tions. 

The leaders in all the French colonies on the Mississippi, 
were gentlemen of education and energy of character, while 
the large majority were illiterate paysans, who possessed little 
property and less enterprize. 

But they were a contented race, patient under hardships, 
unambitious, ignorant oi the prolific resources, and destitute 
of the least perception of its future destiny. They never trou- 
bled themselves with the affairs of government, never indul- 
ged in schemes of aggrandizement, nor showed the least in- 
clination for political domination. They were a frank, 
open-hearted, unsuspicious, joyous people, careless of the ac- 
quisition of property. 

* American State Papers, Public Lands, ii. 164. 
t American State Papers, ii. 167. 



684 Appendix. 

The following truthful and graphic sketch we copy from 
"Sketches of the West," by James Hall, Esq. 

They made no attempt to acquire land from the Indians, to 
organize a social system, to introduce municipal regulations, 
or to establish military defences; but cheerfully obeyed the 
priests and the king's officers, and enjoyed the present, with- 
out troubling their heads about the future. They seem to 
have been even careless as to the acquisition of property, and 
its transmission to their heirs. Finding themselves in a fruit- 
ful country, abounding in game, where the necessaries of life 
could be procured with little labor, where no restraints 
were imposed by government, and neither tribute nor per- 
sonal service was exacted, they were content to live in 
unambitious peace, and comfortable poverty. They took 
possession of so much of the vacant land around them, as 
they were disposed to till, and no more. Their agriculture 
was rude ; and even to this day, some of the implements of 
husbandry, and modes of cultivation, brought from France a 
century ago, remain unchanged by the march of mind, or the 
hand of innovation. Their houses were comfortable, and 
they reared fruits and flowers; evincing, in this respect, an 
attention to comfort and luxury, which has not been practised 
among the English or American first settlers; but in the ac- 
cumulation of property, and in all the essentials of industrj^ 
they were indolent and improvident, rearing only the bare 
necessaries of life, and living from generation to generation 
without change or improvement. 

The only new articles which the French adopted, in conse- 
quence of their change of residence, were those connected 
with the fur trade. The few who were engaged in merchan- 
dise, turned their attention almost exclusively to the traffic 
with the Indians, while a large number became hunters and 
boatmen. The voyageiirs, engagccs, and couriers dcs bois, as 
they are called, form a peculiar race of men. They were ac- 
tive, sprightly, and remarkably expert in their vocation. With 
all the vivacity of the French character, they have little of 
the intemperance and brutal coarseness usually found among 
the boatmen and mariners. They are patient under fatigue, 
and endure an astonishing degree of toil and exposure to 
weather. Accustomed to live in the open air, they pass 
through every extreme, and all the sudden vicissitudes of cli- 
mate, with little apparent inconvenience. Their boats are 
managed with expertness, and even grace, and their toil en- 
livened by the song. As hunters, they have roved over the 
whole of the wide plain of the west, to the llocky Mountains, 
sharing the hospitality of the Indians, abiding for long peri- 
ods, and even permanently, with the tribes, and sometimes 
seeking their alliance by marriage. As boatmen, they navi- 



Character of the French Population. 685 

gate the birch canoe to the sources of the longest rivers, and 
pass from one river to another, by laboriously carrying the 
packages of merchandise, and the boat itself, across moun- 
tains, or through swamps or woods, so that no obstacle stops 
their progress. Like the Indian, they can live on game, 
without condiment or bread ; like him they sleep in the open 
air, or plunge into the water at any season, without injury. 

The French had also a fort on the Ohio, about thirty-six 
miles above the junction of that river with the Mississippi, of 
which the Indians obtained possession by a singular strata- 
gem. A number of them appeared in the day time on the 
opposite side of the river, each covered with a bear-skin, 
walking on all-fours, and imitating the motions of that ani- 
mal. The French supposed them to be bears, and a party 
crossed the river in pursuit of them. The remainder of the 
troops left their quarters, and resorted to the bank of the river, 
in front of the garrison, to observe the sport. In the mean- 
time, a large body of Indian warriors, who were concealed 
in the woods near by, came silently up behind the fort, entered 
it without opposition, and very few of the French escaped 
the carnage. They afterwards built another fort on the same 
ground, which they called Massacre, in memory of this dis- 
astrous event, and which retained the name of Fort Massac^ 
after it passed into the hands of the American government.* 

The foregoing statement is a truthful one according to all 
the traditionary evidence we can collect. We find no authority 
for the word "Marsiac," as given by Mr. Nicolet. f 

This post was a mission station as early as 1711, when the 
Ohio was called the "Ouabache," as is shown in the corres- 
pondence in the Letters Edifiantes already alluded to. Pro- 
bably it continued a trading post and mission station, until 
the British authorities came into possession of Illinois. 

The style of agriculture in all the French settlements was 
simple. Both the Spanish and French governments, in form- 
ing settlements on the Mississippi, had special regard to con- 
venience of social intercourse, and protection from the Indians. 
All their settlements were required to be in the form of villa- 
ges or towns, and lots of a convenient size for a door yard, 
garden and stable yard, were provided for each family. To 
each village were granted two tracts of land at convenient 
distances, for "common fields^'' and ^^ commons.'''' 

A common field is a tract of land of several hundred acres, 

« Sketches of the West, i. 180 to 182. 

I Report, p. 79. « 



686 Appendix. 

enclosed in common by the villagers, each person furnishing 
his proportion of labor, and each family possessing individual 
interest in a portion of the field, marked off and bounded 
from the rest. Ordinances were n-ade to regulate the repairs 
of fences, the time of excluding cattle in the spring, and the 
time of gathering the crop and opening the field for the range 
of cattle in the fall. Each plat of ground in the common 
field was owned in fee simple by the person to whom granted, 
subject to sale and conveyance, the same as any landed pro- 
perty. 

A common is a tract of land granted to the town for wood 
and pasturage, in which each owner of a village lot has a 
common, but not an individual right. In some cases this tract 
embraced several thousand acres. 

By this arrangement, something like a community system 
existed in their intercourse. If the head of a family was 
sick, met with any casualty, or was absent as an engagce, his 
family sustained little inconvenience. His plat in the com- 
mon field was cultivated by his neighbors and the crop 
gathered. A pleasant custom existed in these French villages 
not thirty years since, and which had come down from the 
remotest period. 

The husbandman on his return at evening from his daily 
toil, was always met by his afl^ectionate fcmme with the 
friendly kiss, and very commonly with one, perhaps two of the 
youngest children, to receive the same salutation from le pere. 
This daily interview was at the gate of the door yard, and in 
view of all the villagers. The simple-hearted people were a 
happy and contented race. A few traits of these ancient 
characteristics remain, but most of the descendents of the 
French are fully Americanised. 

SECTION FOURTH. 

State of the Country under British Domination. 

Amongst the sources of information concerning the Illinois 
country during the period of British rule, is a quarto volume 
entitled, " The present state of the European Settlements on the 
Mississippi;' by Captain Phillip Pitman. It was published in 
London, 1770, contains 108 pages, and is illustrated by maps 
and charts. 

Captain Pitman was military Engineer in the British army. 



Sketches of Illinois from Pitman. 687 

and in that capacity was sent to survey the forts, munitions 
of war and towns in Florida, in 1763, when the British took 
possession of that country. Having surveyed the fortifica- 
tions of Pensacola and Mobile, near the Gulph, he proceeded 
to the posts and settlements on the Mississippi, and after sur- 
veying New Orleans and the other posts in Louisiana proper, 
he reached Illinois about 1766. He describes "the country of 
Illinois, as bounded by the Mississippi on the West, by the 
river Illinois on the north, the rivers Ouabache and Miamies 
on the East, and the Ohio on the South." Of this tract of 
country he says : — 

"The air in general, is pure, and the sky serene, except in 
the month of March and the latter end of September, when 
there are heavy rains and hard gales of wind. The months of 
May, June, July and August, are excessively hot, and subject 
to sudden and violent storms. January and February are ex- 
tremely cold, the other months in the year are moderate." 

Very probably during the seasons Captain Pitman was in 
Illinois, "heavy rains" occurred in the latter end of September, 
but in the proportion of five years out of six, the autumnal 
months are dry ; the pastures decay; and farmers find incon- 
venience in sowing wheat, from the drouth. During the 
periodical rise of the rivers in the spring, and especially the 
annual rise of the Missouri in June, rain falls to a greater or 
less extent. Captain Pitman, whose accuracy, in general, 
cannot be questioned, probably drew his comparison of the 
climate and seasons in Illinois with England, to which he had 
been accustomed. He continues : — 

"The principal Indian nations in this country are, the Cas- 
casquias, Kahoquias, Mitchigamias, and Peoryas ; these four 
tribes are generally called the Illinois Indians. Except in the 
hunting seasons, they reside near the English settlements in 
this country. They are a poor, debauched, and detestable 
people. They count about three hundred and fifty warriors. 
The Pianquichas, Mascoutins, Miamies, Kickapous, and Pya- 
tonons, though not very numerous, are a brave and war-like 
people. 

"The soil of this country in general, is very rich and luxu- 
riant; it produces all sorts of European grains, hops, hemp, 
flax, cotton, and tobacco, and European fruits come to great 
p erfection. 

"The inhabitants make wine of the wild grapes, which is 
very inebriating, and is, in color and taste, very like the red 
wine of Provence. ***** 



688 Appendix. 

"In the late wars, New Orleans and the lower parts of 
Louisiana were supplied with flour, beef, wines, hams, and 
other provisions from this country. At present its commerce 
is mostly confined to the peltry and furs, which are got in 
traffic from the Indians; for which are received in return, such 
European commodities as are necessary to carry on that com- 
merce and the support of the inhabitants." 

Of Fort Chartres, which was rebuilt in 1756, under the au- 
thority of the French government, in view of the hostilities 
then existing between England and France for the possession 
of the country on the Ohio, Captain Pitman gives the follow- 
ing description : — • 

"Fort Chartres, when it belonged to France, was the seat of 
government of the Illinois. The head quarters of the English 
commanding officer is now here, who, in fact, is the arbitrary 
governor of this country. The fort is an irregular quadrangle; 
the sides of the exterior polygon are 490 feet. It is built of 
stone, and plastered over, and is only designed as a defence 
against the Indians. The walls are two feet two inches thick, 
and are pierced with loop-holes at regular distances, and with 
two port-holes for cannon in the faces, and two in the flanks 
of each bastion. The ditch has never been finished. The 
entrance to the fort is through a very handsome rustic gate. 
"Within the walls is a banquette raised three feet, for the men 
to stand on when they fire through the loop-holes. The build- 
ings within the fort are, a commandant's and commissary's 
house, the magazine of stores, corps de garde, and two bar- 
racks; these occupy the square. Within the gorges of the 
bastion are a powder magazine, a bake-house, and a prison, 
in the lower floor of which are four dungeons, and in the up- 
per, two rooms, and an out-house belonging to commandant. 
The commandant's house is thirty-two yards long and ten 
broad, and contains a kitchen, a dining-room, a bed-chamber, 
one small room, five closets for servants, and a cellar. The 
commissary's house, (now occupied by officers.) is built on the 
same line as this, and its proportion and the distribution of its 
apartments are the same. Opposite these are the store-house 
and the guard-house; they are each thirty yards long and 
eight broad. The former consists of two large store-rooms, 
(under which is a large vaulted cellar,) a large room, a bed- 
chamber, and a closet for the store-keeper ; the latter of a 
soldiers' and officers' guard room, a chapel, a bed-chamber, a 
closet for the chaplain, and an artillery store-room. The lines 
of barracks have never been finished ; they at present consist 
of two rooms, each for officers, and three for soldiers : they 
are each twenty feet square, and have betwixt them a small 
passage. There are fine spacious lofts over each building 



Description of Fort Char Ires in 1820. 689 

"whicli reach from end to end ; these are made use of to lodge 
regimental stores, working and entrenching tools, &c. It is 
generally believed that this is the most convenient and best 
built fort in North America." 

In 1756, the fort stood half a mile from the bank of the 
river; in 1766, it was SO yards. In two years after, Captain 
Pitman states : — 

The bank of the Mississippi, next the fort, is continually 
falling in, being worn away by the current, which has been 
turned from its course by a sand-bank, now increased to a 
considerable island, covered with willows. Many experiments 
have been tried to stop this growing evil, but to no purpose. 
Eight years ago the river was fordable to the Island ; the 
channel is now forty feet deep. 

In the year 1764, there were about forty families in the vil- 
lage near the fort, and a parish church, served by a Francis- 
can friar, dedicated to Ste. Anne. In the following year, 
when the English took possession of the country, they aban- 
doned their houses, except three or four poor families, and set- 
tled in the villages on the west side of the Mississippi, choos- 
ing to continue under the French government." 

About the year 1770, the river made further encroachments, 
and in 1772, it inundated portions of the American bottom, 
and formed a channel so near this fort, that the wall and two 
bastions on the west side, next the river, were undermined and 
fell into the river. The British garrison abandoned it, and it 
has never since been occupied. Those portion>s of the wall 
which escaped the flood, have been removed by the inhabi- 
tants of Kaskaskia and adjacent settlements for building pur- 
poses. 

In 1820, Dr. Lewis C. Beck, of New York, while collecting 
materials for his Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri, visited 
these ruins, and aided by Mr. Hanson of Illinois, made a com- 
plete and accurate survey, w^ith an engraved plan of the fort 
as it then appeared. The line of the exterior wall was one 
thousand four hundred and forty-seven feet. The two houses, 
formerly occupied by the commandant and commissary, were 
each ninety-six feet in length and thirty feet in breadth. 

The following description, as it then appeared, is from 
Beck's Gazetteer, pp. 108, 109. 

" In front, all that remains, is a small stone cellar, which 
has no doubt been a magazine : some distance above, or north 



690 Appendix. 

of this, is an excavation in the earth, which has the appear- 
ance of having been burned ; it may have been a furnace for 
heating shot, as one of the cannon must have been in this 
vicinity. Not a vestige of the wall is to be seen on this side, 
except a few stones, which still remain in the ravine below. 
At the south-east angle there is a gate, and the wall is per- 
fect. It is about fifteen feet high and three feet thick, and is 
built of coarse lime-stone, quarried in the hills about two miles 
distant, and is well cemented. The south side is, with few 
exceptions, perfect; as is also the south-east bastion. The 
north-east is generally in ruins. On the east face are two 
port holes for cannon, which are still perfect ; they are about 
three feet square, formed by solid rocks or clefts worked 
smooth, and into proper shape ; here is also a large gate, IS 
feet wide, the sides of which still remain in a state of tolera- 
ble preservation ; the cornices and casements, however, which 
formerly ornamented it, have all been taken aw ay. A consi- 
derable portion of the north side of the fort, has also been de- 
stroyed. 

The houses, which make up the square in the inside, are 
generally in ruins. Sufficient, however, remains to enable the 
visitor to ascertain exactly their dimensions and relative situ- 
ations. The well, which is little injured by time, is about 24 
feet north of the north-east house, which, according to Pit- 
man, was the commandant's house. The banquette is entire- 
ly destroyed. The magazine is in a perfect state, and is an 
uncommon specimen of solidity. Its walls arc four feet thick, 
and it is arched in the inside. 

Over the whole fort, there is a considerable growth of trees, 
and in the hall of one of the houses, there is an oak about 18 
inches in diameter. 

There is now (1850) a large Island in the river where a 
sand-bar "covered with willows," had commenced at the pe- 
riod of Captain Pitman's survey. A "slough" is next the 
ruins. Trees more than three feet in diameter, are within the 
walls. It is a ruin in the midst of a dense forest, and did we 
not know its origin and history, it might furnish a fruitful 
theme of antiquarian speculation. 

Captain Pitman gives the following description of Kaskas- 
kia, or according to the French orthograph}' of the period, 
which he follows, Cascasqiiias. 

" The village of Notre Dame de Cascasquias is by far the 
most considerable settlement in the country of the Illinois, as 
well from its number of inhabitants, as from its advantageous 
situation. ****** 

" Mons. Paget was the first who introduced water-mills in 
this country, and he constructed a very fine one on the river 



Description of Kaskaskia by Pitman. 691 

Cascasquias, which was both for grinding corn and sawing 
boards. It lies about one mile from the village. The mill 
proved fatal to him, being killed as he was working it, with 
two negroes, by a party of the Cherokees, in the year 1764. 

" The principal buildings are, the church and Jesuits' house, 
which has a small chapel adjoining it ; these, as well as some 
other houses in the village, are built of stone, and, consider- 
ing this part of the world, make a very good appearance. — 
The Jesuits' plantation consisted of two hundred and forty 
arpents of cultivated land,* a very good stock of cattle, and 
a brewery; which was sold by the French commandant, after 
the country was ceded to the English, for the crown, in con- 
sequence of the suppression of the order. 

" Mons. Beauvais was the purchaser, who is the richest of 
the English subjects in this country ; he keeps eighty slaves; 
he furnishes eighty-six thousand weight of flour to the King's 
magazine, which was only a part of the harvest he reaped in 
one year. 

" Sixty-five families reside in this village, besides mer- 
chants, other casual people, and slaves. The fort, which 
was burnt down in October, 1766, stood on the summit of a 
high rock opposite the village, and on the opposite side of the 
[Kaskaskia] river. It was an oblongular quadrangle, of 
which the exterior polygon measured two hundred and nine- 
ty, by two hundred and fifty-one feet. It was built of very 
thick squared timber, and dove-tailed at the angles. An offi- 
cer and twenty soldiers are quartered in the village. The offi- 
cer governs the inhabitants, under the direction of the com- 
mandant at Chartres. Here are also two companies of mili- 
tia." 

Prairie du Rocher, or " La Prairie de Roches," as Captain 
Pitman has it, is next described — 

" As about seventeen [fourteen] miles from Cascasquias. — 
It is a small village, consisting of twelve dwelling-houses, all 
of which are inhabited by as many families. Here is a little 
chapel, formerly a chapel of ease to the church at Fort Char- 
tres. The inhabitants here are very industrious, and raise a 
great deal of corn and every kind of stock. The village is 
two miles from Fort Chartres. [This means Little Village^ 
which was a mile, or more, nearer than the fort.] It takes its 
name from its situation, being built under a rock that runs 
parallel with the river Mississippi at a league distance, for forty 
miles up. Here is a company of militia, the Captain of which 
regulates the police of the village." 

Saint Phillippe is a small village about five miles from Fort 
Chartres, on the road to Kaoquias. There are about sixteen 

♦ An arpent is 85-lOOths of an English acre. — Editor. 



692 Appendix. 

houses and a small church standing; all of the inhabitants, 
except the Captain of the militia, deserted it 1765, and went 
to the French side, [Missouri.] The Captain of the militia 
has about twenty slaves, a good stock of cattle, and a water- 
mill for corn and planks. This village stands in a very line 
meadow, about one mile from the Mississippi." 

Next follows a description of Cahokia, or, in the orthogra- 
phy of the time, " Kaoquias," which we give entire. It will 
be kept in mind that Captain Pitman was officially employed 
in surveying all the forts, villages and improvements to be 
found in the English territoiies on the Mississippi and Gulph 
of Mexico ; that he was engaged several years in this work 
by personal observation, and that the work from which these 
extracts are made is an official document of great value 
as filling up a chasm in the history of Illinois, for which no 
other correct sources of information are to be found. 

"The village of Saint Famille de Kaoquias," (so Pitman 
writes,) "is generally reckoned fifteen leagues from Fort Char- 
tres, and six leagues below the mouth of the Missoury. It 
stands near the side of the Mississippi, and is marked from 
the river by an Island of two leagues long. [See Annals, p. 
122.] The village is opposite the centre of this Island ; it is 
long and straggling, being three quarters of a mile from one 
end to the other. It contains forty-five dwelling-houses, and 
a church near its centre. The situation is not well chosen; 
as in the floods it is generally overfiowed two or three feet. — 
This w^as the first settlement on the Mississippi. The land 
was purchased of the savages b}'^ a few Canadians, some of 
whom married women of the Kaoquias nation, and others 
brought wives from Canada, and then resided there, leaving 
their children to succeed them. 

"The inhabitants of this place depend more on hunting, 
and their Indian trade, than on agriculture, as they scarcely 
raise corn enough for their own consumption ; they have a 
great plenty of poultry and good stocks of horned cattle. 

*' The mission of St. Sulpice had a very fine plantation 
here, and an excellent house built on it. They sold this es- 
tate and a very good mill for corn and planks, to a French- 
man who chose to remain under the English government. — 
They also disposed of thirty negroes and a good stock of cat- 
tle to dilferent people in the country, and returned to France 
in 1764. What is called the fort, is a small house standing 
in the centre of the village. It differs nothing from the other 
houses, except in being one of the poorest. It was formerly 
enclosed with high pallisades, but these were torn down and 
burnt. Indeed, a fort at this place could be of but little use. 



British Authority in Illinois. 693 

In the language of Captain Pitman, we have given a full 
and accurate description of the settlements in Illinois, at the 
period it passed from the dominion of France to that of Great 
Britain. The population of all classes, other than the abori- 
gines, could not have exceeded three thousand persons. About 
one-third of this number left the country. The missionaries, 
with their attendants, returned to France. Many families di- 
rected their course to the vicinity of New Orleans. A still 
larger number crossed the river to Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis 
and St. Charles. Not more than two thousand French, Eng- 
lish and negroes remained. The increase during British rule 
did not exceed the number who retreated. The cession took 
place in 1763, but it remained in the possession of the French 
until the year 1765. M. St. Ange de Belle Rive was com- 
mandant at Fort Chartres, and Lieutenant Governor of the 
district of Illinois. He made some wise and salutary regula- 
tions about titles to lands, and on the arrival of Captain Stir- 
ling, of the Royal Highlanders, to assume, in the name of His 
Britannic Majesty, the government of the country, St. Ange 
retired to St. Louis, and there exercised the functions of com- 
mandant, much to the satisfaction of the people, until Novem- 
ber, 1770, when his authority was superceded by Piernas, com- 
mandant under the Spanish government. 

At the period of the change of government in Illinois, Gen- 
eral Gage was Commander-in-Chief of the King's troops in 
North America. Captain Stirling brought to the country the 
following proclamation of Governor Gage : — 

"Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris, the 10th day of 
February, 1763, the country of Illinois has been ceded to his 
Britannic Majesty, and the taking possession of the said coun- 
try of the Illinois, by the troops of his majesty, though delayed, 
has been determined upon; we have found it good to make 
known to the inhabitants — 

That his ma-jesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois, 
the liberty of the catholic religion, as has already been granted 
to his subjects in Canada. He has consequently given the 
most precise and effective orders, to the end, that his new 
Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise the wor- 
ship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish 
church, in the same manner as in Canada. 

"That his majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabi- 
tants or others, who have been subjects of the most Christian 
king, (the king of France,) may retire in full safety and free- 



694 Appendix. 

dom wherever they please, even to New Orleans, or any 
part of Louisiana ; although it should happen that the Span- 
iards take possession of it in the name of his Catholic majesty, 
(the king of Spain,) and they may sell their estates, provided 
it be to subjects of his majesty, and transport their effects as 
well as their persons, without restraint upon their emigration, 
under any pretence whatever, except in consequence of debts, 
or of criminal processes. 

"That those who choose to retain their lands and become 
subjects of his majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privi- 
leges, the same security for their persons and effects, and the 
liberty of trade, as the old subjects of the king. 

"That they are commanded by these presents, to take the 
oath of fidelity and obedience to his majesty, in presence of 
Sieur Stirling, captain of the Highland regiment, the bearer 
hereof, and furnished with our full powers for this purpose. 

"That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct 
themselves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding, by a wise 
and prudent demeanor, all causes of complaint against them. 

"That they act in concert with his majesty's officers, so that 
his troops may take possession of all the forts, and order be 
kept in the country. By this means alone they will spare his 
majesty the necessity of recurring to force of arms, and will 
find themselves saved from the scourge of a bloody war, and 
of all the evils which the march of an army into their country 
would draw after it. 

"We direct that those presents be read, published, and 
posted up in the usual places. 

"Done and given at head-quarters, New York — signed with 
our hands — sealed with our seal at arms, and counter- 
signed by our Secretary, this 30th of December, 1764. 

"THOMAS GAGE.* 

"By his Excellency, G. Marturin." 

Captain Stirling remained but a short time in Illinois. He 
was succeeded by Major Farmer, of whose administration lit- 
tle is known. Next in office was Colonel Reed, who made 
himself conspicuous by a series of military oppressions, of 
which complaints were made without redress. He became 
odiously unpopular and left the colony. 

The next in command was Lieutenant-Colonel Wilkins, 
who arrived at Kaskaskia on the 6th of September, 1768. On 
the 21st of November following, he issued a proclamation, 
stating that he had received orders from Gen. Gage to estab- 
lish a court of justice in Illinois, for settling all disputes and 

* Brown's lUinoi?, pp. 212, 213. 



British Authority in Illinois. 695 

controversies between man and man, and all claims in relation 
to property, both real and personal. 

As military commandant, Colonel Wilkins appointed seven 
judges, who met and held their first court at Fort Chartres, 
December 6th, 176S. Courts w^ere then held once in each 
month. 

Even this system, though greatly preferable to a military 
tribunal, was far from satisfying the claims of the people. 
They insisted on a trial by a jury, which being denied them, 
the court became unpopular. 

In 1772, after the tlood already noticed, the seat of govern- 
ment was removed to Kaskaskia. 

We know not at what period Colonel Wilkins left the 
country, nor whether any other British officer succeeded him. 
When taken possession of by Colonel Clark, in 1778, M. 
Rochblave, a Frenchman, was commandant. [See Annals, 
p. 195.] 



CHAPTER II. 
SKETCHES OF ILLINOIS HISTORY. 

Ske'ches of Indian History in Illinois — Progress of Illinois from 1800 to 1812 — Inci- 
dents of the War in Illinois. 

SECTION FIRST. 
Events from 1777 to 1800. 

A communication from Hon. John Reynolds, of Belleville, 
Illinois, to whom we are indebted for several items of the 
history of that State, gives the following statement,' dated 
April 7th, 1850. 

"Dear Sir: — Mr. N. Boismenue, a native of Cahokia, gave 
me the following facts, which he received from his father and 
other citizens of Cahokia. They are connected with the revo- 
lution, and date one or two years before Colonel Clark con- 
quered the country. You may rest assured as to the truth of 
the same." 

As we have personal knowledge of Mr. Boismenue, and his 
character for veracity and a retentive memor}^, and having 
before heard of such an enterprize, we have no hesitation in 
giving it a place, as an incident connected with Illinois. 



696 Appendix. 

Evidence has already been given, that the French popula- 
lation disliked the British government, and only wanted a 
favorable opportunity to throw off the yoke. 

Notwithstanding all that has been said in the preceding 
chapter, of the quiet, peaceful, unambitious character of the 
many, there was restlessness and a daring spirit among the 
few. Of this class was the party described by ^Ir. Boismenue. 
Whether their motives were purely patriotic or of a mixed 
character, cannot now be known. 

We give the facts substantially as communicated by our 
correspondent. 

There was at Cahokia, a restless, adventurous, daring 
man by the name of Thomas Brady, or as he was familiarly 
called, "Tom Brady;" a native of Pennsylvania, who, by hunt- 
ing, or in some other pursuit, found himself a resident of Ca- 
hokia. He raised a company of sixteen resolute persons, all 
of Cahokia and the adjacent village of Prairie du Pont, of 
which the father of Mr. Boismenue, the informant, was one. 
After becoming organized for an expedition, the party moved 
through the prairies to a place called the "Cow Pens," on the 
river St. Joseph, in the south-western part of Michigan. Here 
was a trading-post and fort originally established by [the 
French, but since the transfer of the country, had been occu- 
pied by the British by a small force, as a protection of their 
traders from the Indians. In 1777, it consisted of twenty-one 
men. 

Brady, with his little band of volunteers, left Cahokia about 
the 1st of October, 1777, and made their w^ay to the fort, 
which they captured in the night, without loss on either side, 
except a negro. This person was a slave from some of the 
colonies on the Mississippi, who, in attempting to escape, was 
shot. One object of this expedition, probably, was the Bri- 
tish goods in the fort. 

The company started back as far as the Calumet, a stream 
on the border of Indiana, south-east of Chicago, when they 
were overtaken by a party of British, Canadians and Indians, 
about three hundred in number, who attacked the Cahokians 
and forced them to surrender. Two of Brady's party Avere 
killed, two wounded, one escaped, and twelve were made 
prisoners. These remained prisoners in Canada two years, 
except Brady, who made his escape, and returned to Illinois 



Sketches of Illinois History. 697 

byway of Pennsylvania. M. Boismenue, senior, was one of 
the wounded men. 

The next spring a Frenchman, by the name of Paulette 
Maize, a daring fellow, raised about 300 volunteers from Ca- 
hokia, St. Louis, and other French villages, to re-capture the 
fort on the river St. Joseph. This campaign was by land, 
across the prairies in the spring of 1778. It was successful ; 
the fort was re-taken, and the peltries and goods became the 
spoil of the victors. The wounded men returned home with 
Maize. One gave out; they had no horses; and he was dis- 
patched by the leader, to prevent the company being detained 
on their retreat, lest the same disaster should befal them as 
happened to Brad}^ and his company. Some of the mem- 
bers of the most ancient and respectable families in Cahokia, 
were in this expedition. 

Thomas Brady became the Sheriff of the county of St. 
Clair, after its organization by the Governor of the North- 
western territory in 1790. He was regarded as a trust- worthy 
citizen and died at Cahokia many years since. After the con- 
quest of Illinois, the ancient inhabitants of the new county 
formed by Virginia, [Annals, p. 200,] took the oath of alle- 
giance to that State, 

In the spring of 1779, Colonel John Todd, bearing the com- 
mission of County Lieutenant for the county of Illinois, visi- 
ted Post Vincennes and Kaskaskia, for the purpose of organ- 
izing a temporary government, according to the provisions of 
the act of the General Assembly of Virginia, of October 
1778. On the 15th of June, Mr. Todd issued the following 
proclamation.* 

" Illinois \county,'\ to-rvit: — Whereas, from the fertility and 
beautiful situation of the lands bordering upon the Mississip- 
pi, Ohio, Illinois, and Wabash rivers, the taking up the usual 
quantity of land heretofore allowed for a settlement by the 
government of Virginia, would injure both the strength and 
commerce of this country — I do, therefore, issue this procla- 
mation, strictly enjoining all persons whatsoever from making 
any new settlements upon the flat lands of the said rivers, or 
within one league of said lands, unless in manner and form of 
settlements as heretofore made by the French inhabitants, 
until further orders herein given. And in order that all the 
claims to lands in said county may be fully known, and some 

* Dillon's Indiana, i. 18C. 

44 



698 Appendix. 

method provided for perpetuating by record the just claims, 
every inhabitant is required, as soon as conveniently may be, 
to lay before the person in each district appointed for that pur- 
pose, a memorandum of his or her land, with copies of all 
their vouchers; and where vouchers have never been given, 
or are lost, such depositions or certificates as will tend to sup- 
port their claims; — ihe memorandum to mention the quantity 
of land, to whom originally granted, and when — deducing the 
title through the various occupants to the present possessor. 

The number of adventurers who will shortly overrun this 
country renders the above method necessary as well to ascer- 
tain the vacant lands as to guard against trespasses which will 
probably be committed on lands not of record. 

Given under my hand and seal at Kaskaskia, the 15th of 
June, in the 3d year of the Commonwealth, 1779. 

JOHN TODD, Jr." 

For the preservation of peace and the administration of 
justice, a court of civil and criminal jurisdiction was institu- 
ted at Post Vincennes, in June, 1779. The couit \a as com- 
posed of several magistrates. Colonel J. M. P. Legras, hav- 
ing been appointed commandant of the town, acted as presi- 
dent of the court, and in some cases exercised a controlling 
influence over its proceedings. Adopting in some measure 
the usages and customs of the early French commandants, the 
magistrates of the Court of Post Vincennes began to grant or 
concede tracts of land to the French and American inhabit- 
ants of the town, and to different civil and military officers of 
the country. Indeed it appears that the court assumed the 
power of granting lands to every applicant. Before the year 
1783, about twenty-six thousand acres of land were granted 
to different individuals. From 1783 to 1787, when the prac- 
tice was stopped by General Ilarmar, the grants amounted 
to twenty-two thousand acres.* They were given in tracts 
varying in quantities from four hundred acres to the size of a 
house lot. Besides these small concessions there were some 
grants of tracts several leagues square. The commandant 
and magistrates, after having exercised this power for some 
time, began to believe that they had the right to dispose of 
all that large tract of land which, in 1742, had been granted 
by the Piankeshaw Indians, for the use of the French inhabi- 
tants of Post Vincennes. " Accordingly an arrangement was 
made, by which the whole country to which the Indian title 
was supposed to be extinguished, was divided between the 
members of the court, and orders to that effect entered on 
their journal : each member absenting himself from the court 
on the day that the order was to be made in his favor, so that 
it might appear to be the act of his fellows only. J 

Colonel Todd was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, [An- 

% Letter written in 1790, from Winthrop Sargent to George Wasbingtt.n. 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. 699 

nals, p. 272,] where he commanded the Kentuckians. He had 
been to Virginia on business pertaining to Illinois, returning 
through Kentucky, and not having resigned his command in 
the militia of that district, he led the troops to the battle field. 
Had he lived he would have become a resident of Illinois. — 
His administration in the new territory was patriotic and 
popular. 

The successor of Colonel Todd was a French gentleman 
by the name of Timothy de Monbrun, whose official signa- 
ture is found to land grants and other documents in the ar- 
chives of Randolph county. His name appears at the head of 
a trading company at the French Licks, (Nashville, Tenn.) be- 
fore the revolutionary war. How long he administered the 
affairs of the country we know not, and whether any other 
person was his successor is equally doubtful. The reader will 
recollect that in 1784, Virginia ceded the North-Western ter- 
ritory to the Continental Congress, and that the territory of 
Illinois remained without an organized government until 1790 
[Annals, p. 576.] 

The next series of events demanding attention, are the 
first American settlements in Illinois, and their difficulties 
with the Indians. 

The military expedition of General George Rogers Clark, 
in 1788, and the subjection of the forts of St. Vincent, Kas- 
kaskia, and Cahokia, was the occasion of making known 
the fertile plains of Illinois to the people of the Atlantic 
States, and exciting a spirit of emigration to the banks of the 
Mississippi. Some who accompanied him in that expedition, 
shortly after returned and took possession of the conquered 
country. 

At the period of which we speak, with the exception of the 
old French villages of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, 
Fort Chartres, Village a Cote, Prairie du Pont, and a few 
families scattered along the Wabash and Illinois rivers, Illi- 
nois was the abode of the untamed savage. 

Tradition tells us of many a hard-fought battle between the 
original owners of the country and these intruders. Battle- 
ground creek is well known, on the road from Kaskaskia to 
Shawneetown, twenty-five miles from the former place, where 
the Kaskaskias and their allies were dreadfully slaughtered by 
the united forces of the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies. 



700 Appendix 

Of the Indians, the Kickapoos were the most formidable and 
most dangerous neighbors to the whites, and for a number of 
years kept the American settlements in continual alarm. At 
first, they appeared friendly; but from 1786 to 1796, a period 
of ten years, the settlements were in a continual state of alarm 
from these and other Indians. 

The first settlement formed by emigrants from the United 
States, was made near Bellefontaine, Monroe county, in 1781, 
by James Moore, whose numerous descendants now reside in 
the same settlement. Mr. Moore was a native of Maryland, 
but came to Illinois from Western Virginia, with his family, in 
company with James Garrison, Robert Kidd, Shadrach Bond, 
sen., and Larkin Rutherford. They passed through the wilder- 
ness of the Ohio river, where they took water, came down 
the river, and up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia. Mr. Moore, 
and a portion of his party, planted themselves on the hills near 
Bellefontaine, and Garrison, Bond, and the rest, settled in the 
American bottom, near Harrisonville. This station became 
afterwards known by the name of the block-house fort. 

Nothing deserving special notice occurred amongst this lit- 
tle band of pioneers, till 17S5, when they were joined by Jos. 
Ogle, Jos. Worley, and James Andrews, with large families, 
from Virginia. In 1786, the settlements were strengthened by 
the arrival of James Lemen, George Atcherson, and David 
Waddell, with their families, and several others. The same 
year, the Kickapoo Indians commenced their course of preda- 
tory warfare. A single murder, that of James Flannery, had 
been committed in 1783, while on a hunting excursion, but it 
was not regarded as an act of war. 

But in 1786, they attacked the settlement, killed James An- 
drews, his wife and daughter, James White and Samuel Mc- 
Clure, and took two girls, daughters of Andrews, prisoners. 
One of these died with the Indians, the other was ransomed 
by the French traders. She is now alive, the mother of a 
large family, and resides in St. Clair county. The Indians 
had previously threatened the settlement, and the people had 
built and entered a block-hou.se ; but this family was out and 
defenceless. 

1787. Early in this year, five families near Bellefontaine, 
united and built a block-house, surrounded it with palisades, 
in which their families resided. While laboring in the corn- 



Incidents of. Illinois, 1785—1800 701 

field, they were obliged to carry their rifles, and often at night 
had to keep guard. Under these embarrassments, and in daily 
alarm, they cultivated their corn-fields. 

1788. This year the war assumed a more threatening as- 
pect. Early in the spring, William Biggs was taken prisoner. 
While himself, John Vallis, and Joseph and Benjamin Ogle, 
were passing from the station on the hills to the Block-house 
fort in the bottom, they were attacked by the Indians. Biggs 
and Vallis were a few rods in advance of the party. Vallis 
was killed and Biggs taken prisoner. The others escaped un- 
hurt. Biggs was taken through the prairies to the Kickapoo 
towns on the Wabash, from whence he was finally liberated 
by means of the French traders. The Indians treated him 
well, offered him the daughter of a brave for a wife, and pro- 
posed to adopt him into their tribe. He afterwards became 
a resident of St. Clair county, was a member of the territo- 
rial legislature, judge of the county court, and wrote and 
published a narrative of his captivity among the Indians. 

On the 10th day of December, in the same year, James 
Garrison and Benjamin Ogle, while hauling hay from the bot- 
tom, were attacked by two Indians ; Ogle was shot in the 
shoulder, where the ball remained ; Garrison sprang from the 
load and escaped into the woods. The horses taking fright, 
carried Ogle safe to the settlements. In stacking the same 
hay, Samuel Garrison and a IMr. Riddick were killed and 
scalped. 

1789. This was a period of considerable mischief. Three 
boys were attacked by six Indians, a few yards from the 
block-house, one of which, David Waddel, was struck with a 
tomahawk in three places, scalped, and yet recovered ; the 
others escaped unhurt. A short time previous, James Turner, 
a young man, was killed on the American bottom. Two men 
were afterwards killed and scalped while on their way to St. 
Louis. In another instance, two men were attacked on a load 
of hay ; one was killed outright, the other was scalped, but 
recovered. The same year John Ferrel was killed, and John 
Dempsey was scalped and made his escape. The Indians 
frequently stole the horses and killed the cattle of the settlers. 
1790. The embarrassments of these frontier people greatly 
increased, and they lived in continual alarm. In the winter, 
a party of Osage Indians, who had not molested them hitherto. 



702 Appendix. 

came across the Mississippi, stole a number of horses, and at- 
tempted to recross the river. The Americans followed and 
fired upon them. James Worley, an old settler, having got in 
advance of his party, was shot, scalped, and his head cut ofl' 
and left on the sand-bar. The same year, James Smith, a 
Baptist preacher from Kentucky, while on a visit to these 
frontiers, was taken prisoner by a party of Kickapoos. On 
the 19lh May, in company with Mrs. Huff and a Frenchman, 
he was proceeding from the block-house to a settlement then 
known by the name of the Little Village. The Kickapoos 
fired upon them from an ambuscade near Bellefontaine, killed 
the Frenchman's horse, sprang upon the woman and her 
child, whom they despatched with a tomahawk, and took 
Smith. His horse being shot, he attempted to flee on foot; 
and having some valuable papers in his saddle-bags, he threw 
them into a thicket, where they were found next day by his 
friends. Having retreated a few yards down the hill, he fell 
on his knees in prayer for the poor woman they Avere butcher- 
ing, and who had been seriously impressed, for some days, 
about religion. The Frenchman escaped on foot in the 
thickets. The Indians soon had possession of Smith, loaded 
him with packs of plunder which they had collected, and took 
up their line of march through the prairies. Smith was a 
large, heavy man, and soon became tired under his heavy load, 
and with the hot sun. Several consultations were held by the 
Indians, how to dispose of their prisoner. Some were for 
despatching him outright, being fearful the whites would fol- 
low them from the settlement, and frequently pointing their 
guns at his breast. Knowing well the Indian character, he 
would bare his breast as if in defiance, and point upwards to 
signify the Great Spirit was his protector. Seeing him in the 
attitude of prayer, and hearing him sing hymns on his march, 
which he did to relieve his own mind from despondency, they 
came to the conclusion that he was a 'great medicine,' holding 
daily intercourse with the Good Spirit, and must not be put to 
death. After this, they took off his burdens and treated him 
kindly. They took him to the Kickapoo towns on the Wabash, 
from whence, in a few months, he obtained his deliverance, 
the inhabitants of New Design paying one hundred and 
seventy dollars for his ransom. 

1791. In the spring of this year, the Indians again com- 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. 703 

raenced their depredations by stealing horses. In May, John 
Dempsey was attacked, bat made his escape. A party of 
eight men followed. The Indians were just double their num- 
ber. A severe running fight was kept up for several hours, 
and conducted with great prudence and bravery on the part 
of the whites. Each party kept the trees for shelter; the In- 
dians retreating, and the Americans pursuing, from tree to 
tree until night put an end to the conflict. Five Indians were 
killed without the loss of a man or of a drop of blood on the 
other side. This party consisted of Capt. N. Hull, who com- 
manded, Joseph Ogle, sen., Benjamin Ogle, James Lemen, 
sen., J. Ryan, William Bryson, John Porter, andD. Draper. 

1792. This was a season of comparative quietness. No 
Indian fighting ; and the only depredations committed, were 
in stealing a few horses. 

1793. This was a period of contention and alarm. The 
little settlements were strengthened this year by the addition 
of a band of emigrants from Kentucky; amongst which was 
the family of Whiteside. 

In February, an Indian in ambuscade, wounded Joel White- 
side, and was followed by John Moore, Andrew Kinney, Thos. 
Todd, and others, killed and scalped. Soon after, a party of 
Kickapoos, supposed to have been headed by the celebrated 
war-chief, Old Pecan, made a predatory excursion into the 
American bottom, near the present residence of S. W. Miles, 
in Monroe county, and stole nine horses from the citizens. A 
number of citizens rallied and commenced pursuit; but many 
having started without preparing for long absence, and being 
apprehensive that an expedition into the Indian country 
would be attended with much danger, all returned but eight 
men. This little band consisted of Samuel Judy, John White- 
side, William L. Whiteside, Uel Whiteside, William Harring- 
ton, John Dempsey, and John Porter, with William Whiteside, 
a man of great prudence and unquestionable bravery in In- 
dian warfare, whom they chose commander. 

They passed on the trail near the present site of Belleville^ 
towards the Indian camps on Shoal creek, where they found 
three of the stolen horses grazing, which they secured. The 
party then, small as it was, divided into two parts of four men 
each, and approached the Indian camps from opposite sides. 
The signal for attack was the discharge of the captain's gun. 



704 Appendix. 

One Indian, a son of Old Pecan, was killed, another mor- 
tally, and others slightly wounded, as the Indians fled, leaving 
their guns. Such a display of courage by the whites, and be- 
ing attacked on two sides at once, made the Indians believe 
there was a large force, and the old chief approached the party 
and begged for quarter. But when he discovered his foes to 
be an insignificant number, and his own party numerous, he 
called aloud to his braves to return and retrieve their honor. 
His own gun he surrendered to the whites, but now he seized 
the gun of the captain, and exerted all his force to wrest it 
from him. Captain Whiteside was a powerful man, and a 
stranger to fear; but he compelled the Indian to retire, deem- 
ing it dishonorable to destroy an unarmed man, who had pre- 
viously surrendered. 

This intrepid band was now in the heart of the Indian 
country, where hundreds of warriors could be raised in a few 
hours' time. In this critical situation, Captain Whiteside, not 
less distinguished for prudence than bravery, did not long 
hesitate. With the horses they had recovered, they imme- 
diately started for home, without loss of time in hunting the 
remainder. They travelled night and day, without eating or 
sleeping, till they reached in safety Whiteside's station, in 
Monroe county. On the same night, Old Pecan, with seventy 
warriors, arrived in the vicinity of Cahokia. From that time the 
very name of Whiteside struck terror amongst the Kickapoos. 

Hazardous and daring as this expedition was, it met with 
great disapprobation from many of the settlers. Some alleged 
that Old Pecan was decidedly friendly to the whites ; that 
another party had stolen the horses; that the attack upon his 
camp was clandestine and wanton ; and that it was the cause 
of much subsequent mischief. These nice points of casuistry 
are difficult to be settled at this period. It has long been 
known, that one portion of a nation or tribe will be on the 
war-path, while another party will pretend to be peaceable. 
Hence it has been found necessary to hold the tribe responsible 
for the conduct of its party. 

1794. The Indians, in revenge of the attack just narrated, 
shot Thomas Whiteside, a young man, near the 'station,' 
tomahawked a son of William Whiteside, so that he died, all 
in revenge for the death of Old Pecan's son. In February of 
the same year, the Indians killed Mr. Huff, one of the early 
settlers, while on his way to Kaskaskia. 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. 705 

1795. Two men at one time, and some French negroes at 
another time, were killed on the American bottom, and some 
prisoners taken. The same year, the family of Mr. McMahan 
was killed and himself and daughters taken prisoners. This 
man lived in the outskirts of the settlement. Four Indians 
attacked his house in day-light, killed his wife and four chil- 
dren before his eyes, laid their bodies in a row on the floor of 
the cabin, took him and his daughters, and marched for their 
towns. On the second night, Mr. McMahan, finding the In- 
dians asleep, put on their moccasins and made his escape. He 
arrived in the settlement just after his neighbors had buried 
his family. They had enclosed their bodies in rude coflins, 
and covered them with earth as he came in sight. He looked 
upon the newly formed hillock, and raising his eyes to heaven 
in pious resignation, said, 'they were lovely and pleasant in 
their lives, and in their death they were not divided." His 
daughter, now Mrs. Gaskill,of Ridge Prairie, was afterwards 
ransomed by the charitable contributions of the people. 

Not far from this period, the Whitesides, and others, to the 
number of fourteen persons, made an attack upon an en- 
campment of Indians, of superior force, at the foot of the 
bluffs west of Belleville. Only one Indian ever returned to 
his nation to tell the story of their defeat. The graves of the 
rest were to be seen, a few years since, in the border of the 
thicket, near the battle ground. In this skirmish, Capt. Wm. 
Whiteside was wounded, as he thought, mortally, having re- 
ceived a shot in his side. As he fell, he exhorted his sons to 
fight valiantly, not to yield an inch of ground, nor let the In- 
dians touch his body. Uel Whiteside, who was shot in the 
arm, and disabled from using the rifle, examined the wound, 
and found the ball had glanced along the ribs and lodged 
against the spine. With that presence of mind, which is 
sometimes characteristic of our backwoods hunters, he whip- 
ped out his knife, gashed the skin, extracted the ball, and 
holding it up, exultingly exclaimed, " Father, you are not 
dead!" The old man instantly jumped on his feet, and re- 
newed the fight, exclaiming, come on, boys, 1 can fight them 
yet ! Such instances of desperate intrepidity and martial en- 
ergy of character, distinguished the men who defended the 
frontiers of Illinois in those days of peril. 

The subjugation of the Indians in the Miami country, by 



706 Appendix. 

General Wayne, in 1794, and the treaty that grew out of it 
the following year, brought peace to the borders of Illinois, 
and the settlers remained unmolested from these daily alarms. 
A few horses were stolen from time to time, and in 1802, Jo- 
seph Vanmeter and Alexander Dennis were killed on the 
American bottom, but no attack was made upon the settle- 
ments. Families again took up their abodes in the borders 
of the prairies; emigrants from the States clustered around 
them, and the cultivation of the soil was pur.sued without fear 
or interruption. 

During most of the period we have gone over, these people 
lived under the- jurisdiction of the North-Western territory. 
The administration of civil government was conducted in its 
most simple form; the morals of the people were pure, and 
much of rural simplicity and hospitality was enjoyed. 

There was something peculiarly interesting in this primi- 
tive society. The grosser vices were unknown. There was 
but very little use for the administration of either civil or crim- 
inal laws. Ardent spirit, that outrage upon morals, social 
order, and religion, had been introduced but in small quanti- 
ties ; thefts and other crimes were extremely rare, and fraud 
and dishonesty in dealings, but seldom practised. The Moores, 
Ogles, Lemens, and other families, were of unblemished mor- 
als, and were impelled by a love of freedom to leave the banks 
of the Potomac, in A'^irginia, for a residence on the prairies of 
Illinois. They were opposed to slavery, and took up their 
long line of march for these wild regions, that they and their 
posterity might enjo}'. uninterrupted, the advantages of a 
country unembarrassed with slavery. 

For the first eight or ten years of the period I have glanced 
over, the only professor of religion in the colony was a female, 
who had been a member of the Presbyterian church ; yet the 
sabbath was observed with religious consecration. The peo- 
ple were accustomed to assemble, sing hymns, and read a por- 
tion of scripture or a sermon. No one ventured to offer a 
prayer. 

In 1778, James Smith, a Baptist preacher from Kentucky, 
whose captivity with the Indians has been narrated, visited 
the settlement and preached to the people. The influence of 
the divine spirit descended, and some were converted. This 
was the first protestant preaching, and these were the first 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. 707 

converts, and this the first revival of religion, ever known on 
the banks of the "father of w^aters." 

In 1790, Smith made his first visit to the country, preached 
several times, and other persons became anxious about their 
souls, amongst whom was the woman who was murdered, 
when he was captured. Owing to the unsettled state of the 
country, it was not deemed expedient to organize a church. — 
Amongst the converts made under the preaching of Smith, 
were Joseph Ogle and some of his children, James Lemon, 
sen., their wives and others. 

In 1793, Joseph Lillard, a Methodist preacher, made a visit 
to the country, and attended several meetings. Some of the 
families embraced Methodist principles. The succeeding year, 
Josiah Dodge, a regular Baptist preacher, originally from Con- 
necticut, but then from Kentucky, visited Illinois, and preach- 
ed the gospel with some success. The next year he returned 
and baptized James Lemen, sen., and wife, John Gibbons and 
Isaac Enocks. This was the first instance of the ordinance of 
baptism being administered by a protestant in these ends of 
the earth. During the same year, 1796, elder David Badgley 
from Virginia, visited Illinois, and organized the Baptist 
church at New Design, which was the first regularly organ- 
ized protestant community. 

It is worthy of note, that the descendants of those early 
settlers whose attention was turned to religion, and for whom 
the Lord spread a table in the wilderness, are now worthy 
and respectable members of christian churches. A large ma- 
jority of the Moores, Lemens and Ogles, are of this descrip- 
tion. 

In a few years, preachers of the gospel were raised up in 
the country, many of whom are now alive; and notwithstand- 
ing the difficulties they had to surmount, and the privations 
to endure, they have been instrumental in doing much good. 
In those days, that minister's library was thought to be well 
suppHed, that contained a complete copy of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, a copy of Watts' Psalms and Hymns, and Russell's sev- 
en Sermons. There were preachers then, who taught the peo- 
ple in the best manner they were able, without possessing, 
and without the power of obtaining a ivhole copy of the Word 
of God. 

The opportunity of these pioneers to educate their children 



708 Appendix. 

was extremely small. If the mother could read, while tlie 
father was in the cornfield, or with his rifle upon the range, 
she would barricade the door to keep off the Indians, gather 
her little ones around her, and by the light that came in from 
the crevices in the roof and sides of the cabin, she would teach 
them the rudiments of spelling from the fragments of some 
old book. After schools were taught, the price of a rough 
and antiquated copy of Dihvorth's spelling book was une dol- 
lar, and that dollar equal in value tojive now. 

The first school ever taught for the American settlers, was 
by Samuel Seely, in 1783. Francis Clark, an intemperate 
man, came next. This was near Bellefontaine, in 1786. — 
After this, an inoffensive Irishman of small attainments, by 
the name of Halfpenny, was employed by the people for sev- 
eral quarters. Spelling, reading, writing, and the elements 
of arithmetic, were all the branches attempted to be taught, 
and these in a very imperfect manner. 

Following him, the late pious and eccentric John Clark, a 
preacher of the gospel, taught the youth of these settlements 
gratuitously. He was a good scholar, of Scotch descent and 
education, and initiated the young men of that day, not only in 
the rudiments of an English education, but in several instan- 
ces, in mathematics, natural philosophy, and the latin lan- 
guage. 

The year 1797 was distinguished for a mortal sickness that 
prevailed in the settlement of New Design. A colony of one 
hundred and twenty-six persons, left the south branch of the 
Potomac, in Virginia, early in the spring, descended the Ohio 
by water, landed at Fort Massac, bringing their horses and 
wagons, with which they crossed the wilderness to New De- 
sign. The season proved uncommonly rainy ; the mud was 
excessively deep, and frequently for miles in extent, they were 
obliged to watle through sheets of water. They were twenty- 
one da^s in traversing this wilderness, which is mostly a tim- 
bered region. The old settlers had been so long harrassed 
with Indian warfare, that agriculture had been neglected, their 
cattl"e were few in number, and their stock of provisions very 
scanty. Their cabins usually consisted of a single room, for 
all domestic purposes ; and though hospitality to strangers is 
a universal trait in frontier character, it was utterly beyond 
the power of the inhabitants to provide accommodations in 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. " 709 

provisions or shelter to these new comers, who arrived in a 
famishing, deplorable, and sickly condition. They did the 
best they could ; a single cabin frequently contained three or 
four families. Their rifles could procure venison from the 
prairies; but the extreme rains were followed with unusual 
heat; they had no salt, and their meat was often in "spoiling 
order," before they could pack it from the hunting grounds to 
the settlement. Medical aid was procured with the greatest 
difficulty, and that but seldom. Under such circumstances, 
need it surprise the reader, that of the one hundred and 
twenty-six emigrants who left Virginia in the spring, only 
sixty-three remained at the close of summer. A little bluff 
had been entirely covered with newly-formed graves ! They 
were swept off by a putrid fever, uncommonly malignant, and 
which sometimes did its work in a few hours. The old inhabi- 
tants were healthy as usual. 

The settlers state, that no disease like it ever appeared in 
the country before or shice. Intelligence of this fatal sickness 
reached the Atlantic states, found its way into the periodical 
journals, and, more than all other events, has produced an im- 
pression abroad, that all Illinois is a sickly countr}- ; an im- 
pression wholly incorrect. Illinois, unquestionably, is as 
healthy a region as any western state. 

SECTION II. 
Sketches of Indian History in Illinois, 

The territory of Illinois, south of a line from about Quincy 
to Ottowa, was originally claimed by a confederacy of tribes 
under the general name of Illinois, or as called by Hennepin 
(of doubtful authority,) lllini. We have searched every au- 
thority within our reach, for the etymology and meaning of 
this name. The most elaborate work in our library on Indian 
names and the structure of numerous languages and dialects 
of the aborigines of our country, is the second volumeyof the 
" ArclicBologia Americana,^'' or Transactions and Collections of 
the American Antiquarian Society. This work contains 422 
large octavo pages, from the pen of the late Albert Gallatin, 
Esq., whose researches in this department of literature are 
the most extensive to be found. " The works of Eliot, Colton, 
Roger Williams, and Edwards of New England ; the diction- 
ary of Father Rasle, illustrated by the learned and discrimina- 



710 Appendix. 

ting Pickering ; and the researciies of Heckewelder and Zeis- 
berger, on whose data have been reared the philosophical hy- 
potheses of Du Ponceau;" are investigations in the languages 
and dialects of the Indian nations, most profound and search- 
ing. JNfr. Gallatin has brought together in one view, the lan- 
f^uao^es and dialects of all the Indian nations of North Ameri- 
ca, so far as authentic specimens could be procured. We are 
thus particular to remove any impressions that our suggestion 
of the origin and meaning of the term Illinois is fanciful. 

The aborigines of this continent are not of one stock. In 
language, religion, manners, customs, figure, mental power, 
and other characteristics, the native inhabitants of North 
America were divided into several distinct classes ; and these 
again, were subdivided into numerous confederacies and tribes, 
differing from each other in dialect, and slight modifications of 
character. The first division, and the only one that demands 
attention in this work, has been denominated by the French 
the Algonquin race ; by Mr. Schoolcraft, the Algic race. 

This was the most numerous class when the continent was 
first visited by Europeans, and, embraced all the Indians of Can- 
ada, New England and New York, except the Iroquois or "Six 
Nations," who are a different and a superior stock. The Len- 
no-lcnape, or Delawares, of New Jersey and Pennsylvania ; the 
Powhattan confederacy of Virginia, the Chouannons, or 
Shawanoes, from James' River to Florida ; the Meaumies [Mi- 
amies] of Ohio and Indiana ; the O'jibways, Ottawas, Potta- 
watomies, Musquakies, [Fox Indians] Saukies, Kickapoos, and 
many others, including the Illinois confederacy, are of the Al- 
gonquin or Algic stock. They are called in the work before 
us, the Algonquin- Lenape nations. 

The name Illinois is derived from Lenno, " man." The Del- 
aware Indians (according to Heckewelder and Zeisberger) call 
themselves Lenno Lenape, which means " original, or unmix- 
ed men." The term manly men, to distinguish themselves from 
mean, trifling men, would convey the exact idea. " Nape" 
means "male," and " Lenape" a real man. 

The tribes along the Illinois gave the French explorers to 
understand, they were real men. They said " lenno," or "len- 
ni." All uncouth, strange and barbarous sounds are liable to 
be misunderstood, and mis-spelt, unless long acquaintance and 

* Transactions, ii. 21. 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1800. 7X1 

a careful analysis produce accuracy. The word lenno expres- 
sed the nation to which they belonged as a generic term. — 
There was no particular tribe called Elini. The word Illinois 
is partly Indian, and partly French. Every scholar knows 
that the termination is French. The river took its name from 
the Indians that occupied its banks. 

The confederacy under the generic name Illinois, consisted 
of five tribes ; the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamarouas, Peorias, 
and Mitchigamias. This last (if Charlevoix is correct) was a 
foreign tribe admitted into their confederacy, and which origi- 
nally came from the other side of the Mississippi. This, we 
doubt, for originally they were about Lake Michigan, where 
they left their name. This confederacy are said to have been 
numerous, and before the visit of Marquette and Joliet, to con- 
sist of ten or twelve thousand souls. 

The Iroquois, or five nations, were at war with them when 
La Salle visited Illinois. They claimed to have conquered 
the country, and exercised their right to dispose of it to their 
ally. Great Britain. The Chickasaws made war on them from 
the south : the Sauks, Foxes, Kickapoos, Ottaw^as, Pottawato- 
mies, and other bands from the north, and though once numer- 
ous, they were greatly reduced by their enemies. 

Starved Rock, near the foot of the rapids of the Illinois, is a 
perpendicular mass of lime and sand stone washed by the cur- 
rent at its base, and elevated 150 feet. The diameter of its 
surface is about 100 feet, with aslope extending to the adjoin- 
ing bluff from which alone it is accessible. 

Tradition says that after the Illinois Indians had killed 
Pontiac, the great Indian Chief of the northern Indians 
made war upon them. A band of the Illinois, in attempting 
to escape, took shelter on this rock, which they soon made in- 
accessible to their enemies, and where they were closely be- 
sieged. They had secured provisions, but their only resource 
for water was by letting down vessels with bark ropes to the 
river. The wily besiegers contrived to come in canoes under 
the rock and cut off their buckets, by which means the unfor- 
tunate Illinois were starved to death. Many years after, their 
bones were whitening on this summit. 

Iroquois river and county, in the eastern part of the State 
reminds us of one victory, at least, the Illinois Indians gained 
over their ancient enemies. The latter were driven from the 
field with considerable loss. 



712 Appendix. 

The Tamarouas tribe were nearly exterminated by the 
Shavvanese, in a fight in the eastern part of Randolph county, 
where their bones could be seen about the period of the con- 
quest of Illinois by Clark. From that period their name was 
lost. 

We are at some loss to arrange the Mascoutin tribe, or as 
given by Father AUouez, Mascontens.* 

Charlevoix says, and he is confirmed by Mr. Schoolcraft, that 
Mascontenck means a " country without woods, a prairie. "f — 
There certainly was a tribe called by this name, in friendly re- 
lations with the Illinois confederacy. They were a distinct 
band when Colonel Clark negotiated with the Indians of Illi- 
nois, in 1778. [Annals, 205.] They certainly were not Sauks, 
Foxes, Kickapoos, nor Shawanese. Probably they, too, be- 
longed to the Illinois confederacy, and constituted the sixth 
branch. 

The Piankeshaws possessed the eastern part of the State 
adjacent to the Wabash river. Formerly they claimed the 
country on both sides of the Wabash, but about the middle 
of the sixteenth century, they gave the Shau-anoes (who origi- 
nated from the country on the Atlantic, between James' river 
and Florida) liberty to occupy the country on the Ohio and 
eastern side of the Wabash. In 1768, they granted a tract 
of country east of the Wabash to the Delaware Indians.J — 
They claimed the country from the Wabash west to the divi- 
ding ridge, which separates the waters emptying into the Sa- 
line creek and the Kaskaskia river, from the streams that flow 
into the Wabash. They were a branch of the Miami confed- 
eracy. 

There is a tradition that the Kickapoos originally came 
from beyond the Mississippi river, and yet their language, 
manners and customs are similar to those of the Sauks and 
Foxes. They claimed the country on the Sangamon, Macki- 
naw and Vermillion rivers in Illinois, and had villages on the 
Wabash in Indiana. Indian titles and boundaries are extreme- 
ly vague and indeterminate. They have ever been a nomadic 
people, wandering from place to place. "Attachment to the 
graves of their fathers" is poetry. 

* Relation? of New France, 1G66. ' 

tTransoelions Antiquarian Society, ii. 61. 
X Transactions, ii. 63. 



Incidents of Illinois, 1785—1803. 713 

The Sauks originated from the region of Quebec and Mon- 
treal. Probably they were expelled by the Iroquois who con- 
quered that country. We can naxt identify them on the north- 
ern side of Michigan, along Saganau bay, as the name im- 
ports. Saganau is from Sau-ke-nuk, (Saukietown.) 

Next they are at" Sauk river," in Wisconsin, '^below Green 
Bay, where they formed an alliance with the " Ottagamies," 
as called by the English and many Indians ; the " Les Ren- 
ards" by the French. Their true name is Mus-quau-kee, sin- 
gular, or Mus-quau-ki-uk, plural. The meaning is red clay, 
as Saukie means while clay. The Foxes possessed the coun- 
try about Green Bay, and along the river that bears their 
name. 

It was not until some years after the French settled in Illi- 
nois, they wandered to the Mississippi, and took possession of 
the peninsula of Rock River, where they dispossessed the 
Sauteaux, with whom the French had traded. These people 
were a branch of the Chippeway, or Ojibbeway nation. — 
Their principal village was where Rock Island city now ex- 
ists, but they had several other village sites, one of which was 
where Quincj^ now is. They took possession of the country 
of the loways, [Aiouez] whom they partly subjugated. The 
Foxes had their principal village on the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi, at Davenport. A small Sauk village was on the west 
side of the Mississippi river, near the mouth of the Des- 
moines. 

The Pottawatomies, Ottowas and Chippeways, have an 
affinity in language, and have sustained a friendly relation- 
ship. They possessed the country in the north-eastern part of 
Illinois and around Lake Michigan. 

The Mcnominees, (or Melominees of some writers) had their 
country north-west of Green Bay, among the rice-lakes. Their 
name signifies " Rice-eaters," and hence the French call them 
" Folls-avoine," a term that signifies wild rice, or "oats." — 
This tribe is mentioned by the missionaries as early as 1669. 
Another small tribe about Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay, is the 
" Puants,^^ so called from their extreme filthy habits. 



45 



714 Appendix. 

SECTION THIRD. 
Progress of Illinois from 1800 to 1812. 

During this period, no important events of a thrilling char- 
acter occurred to interrupt the quiet routine of peaceful life 
in this remote territory. The termination of the Indian hos- 
tilities invited immigration from the States. The settlements in 
what is now Monroe county, became the temporary resort of 
many families from the two Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky and 
Tennessee, who, in a year or two, passed over to Upper Louis- 
iana. The population of Illinois in 1790, did not much ex- 
ceed 2000 white persons, and in 1800, about 3000. (The es- 
timate in the preceding section included Indiana.) We have a 
list of the names of heads of American families, who came to 
Illinois previous to 1788, and thereby became entitled to do- 
nations of land, called " head-rights." Their number is 80. 
Of these the names of John Edgar, George Atcheson, Wm. 
Arundel, William Biggs, John Boyd, John Cook, John Dodge, 
James Garrison, Thomas Hughes, Jacob Judy, Peter Smith, 
James Lemen, sen., James Moore, Henry O'llarra, Joseph 
OMe, James Piggott, Larkin Rutherford, John K. Simpson, Jo- 
seph Worley, James McRoberts, Thomas Brady, John Demp- 
sey, Thomas Flannery, and many others, will be recollected 
by the old settlers. 

A letter from Governor Reynolds, dated Belleville, Illinois, 
February 29th, 1848, gives the following facts: — 

"The whole country both sides of the Mississippi, was call- 
ed Illinois in ancient times. When my father started from 
Knox county, in East Tennessee, for the " Spanibh country," 
as he intended, it was called there Illinois. He left Tennessee 
in the spring of 1800,crosi?ed the Ohio river at " Lusk's ferry," 
as it was called, and landed on the right bank of the Ohio, 
where Golconda is now h^ituated. There was no house on the 
road to Kaskaskia, until we readied General Edgar's ferry, 
one miie above the town. In 1801, there were six famil.es 
east of the Kaskaskia river in a settlement. The names were 
StaceyMcDonough, James Hughes and Messrs. Pet tit, Dunks, 
and Anderson. My father, Robert Reynolds, settl(;d near the 
river and town of Kaskaskia. Pettit, Anderson and Dunks, 
resided on Nine Mile creek, a few miles north of the first 
named persons, but it was called one settlement, although se- 
veral miles in extent. No one at that period lived east near- 
er than Vincennes. 



American Settlements in Illinois. 715 

la very early times a town by the name of Washington was 
laid off in Horse Prairie, and a few families resided there in 
1800. Mr, Leonis had a saw mill on Horse Creek, and Gener- 
al Edgar had a fine flouring mill on a small stream east of the 
Kaskaskia river. At a still earlier period, a town was estab- 
lished at or near Bellefontaine, in Monroe county, where both 
Americans and French resided, and I have seen the vestiges 
of it. 

" Before 1790, General Edgar made salt at the foot of the 
bluffs near the residence of Judge Bond, and near the termi- 
nus of the bluffs at the south part of Monroe county. The 
water was not very strong, and yet considerable salt was made 
at this lick. At the Salines, below Ste. Genevieve, considera- 
ble salt was manufactured, during many years, within sight 
of the Illinois shore. And in still more ancient times, the 
French from Vincennes made salt at the Salines in Gallatin 
county." 

General John Edgar was an officer in the British navy, in 
Canada, and on the lakes. He came to Kaskaskia during the 
war of the revolution. He was a trader and accumulated a 
large amount of lands. 

Of the Americans who resided in the town of Kaskaskia in. 
1800, we give the names of John Edgar, James Edgar, Will- 
liam Morrison, Robert Morrison, John Rice Jones, William 
Arundel, and probably some others. Colonel William Morri- 
son was engaged in the Indian trade. He kept the principal 
wholesale and retail store in the place for many years. He 
was a man of talents, enterprize, and indomitable energy, and 
died some years since at an advanced age. 

The old Kaskaskia tribe of Indians at that period, were 
numerous, and resided between the town and ruins of Fort 
Chartres. They counted 150 warriors, which makes their 
population about 700 or 800. Their chief, old Du Coigne, was 
a man of strong mind and always friendly to the white peo- 
ple. The Kickapoos were frequently at war with the Kaskas- 
kia Indians, and cut off many, but intoxicating drink killed 
many more. 

Two American settlements were commenced in the present 
boundaries of St. Clair county previous to 1800. Turky Hill, 
a few miles east of Belleville, was first settled in 1798, by 
William Scott, John and Franklin Jarvis, Hosea Riggs, Saml. 
Shook, George Stout, and their families. From five to seven 
miles south-east of Belleville, another settlement was com- 



716 Appendix. 

menced about 1797, by Abraham Eyman, John Teter, William 
Miller and Mr. Randelman. 

In 1802, several families commenced settlem.ents in St. Clair 
county, north of Belleville. Amongst these was Captain Jos. 
Ogle and his sons, J. J. Whiteside, and W. L. Whiteside. 
About the same tinie Goshen settlement vi^as commenced, near 
the bluffs, in the present boundary of Madison county, south- 
west of Edwardsville ; and the settlements on Wood river and 
Rattan's prairie, a few miles east of the present site of Alton. 

From this period until the organization of the territory of 
Illinois, new settlements were formed in Gallatin, Johnson, 
Union and Jackson counties; and in White county, on the 
Wabash. In 1810, so great had been the increase that the 
census gives the population of the territory at 12,284 inhabi- 
tants. At the same time Indiana territory reported 24,520. 

In July, 1790, there were one hundred and forty-tkree heads 
of families in Vincennes, who were residents of that place at 
or before 1783 ; and eighty Americans who claimed rights to 
lands in Knox county. 

The act of Congress for the organization of the Illinois ter- 
ritory in 1809, has already been mentioned. [Annals, 576, 577.] 
The territorial government was begun in due form on April 
25th, 1809, on which day, the late Nathaniel Pope, the Secre- 
tary and acting Governor, took the customary oath. 

We here give the commission of the Secretary from the 
President, and the oath of office administered by judge Shra- 
der, one of the United States' Judges for the territory of 
Louisiana. 

"James Madison, President of the United States of America, 
to all who shall see these presents. Greeting: — 

Know Ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the 
integrity, diligence, and abilities of Nathaniel Pope, of the 
Louisiana territory, I have nominated, and by the advice and 
consent of the Senate, do appoint him Secretary to and for the 
Illinois territory ; and do authorize and empower him to exe- 
cute and fulfil the duties of that office, with all the powers, pri- 
vileges and emoluments to the same of right appertaining, for 
the term of four years from the date hereof, unless the Presi- 
dent of the United States for the time being, should be pleased 
sooner to revoke and determine this commission. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made 
patent, and the seal of the United States to be hereunto af- 
fixed. 



American Settlements in Illinois 7lt 

Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the seventh 
day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and nine, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America, the thirty- third. 

JAMES MADISON. 
By the President, 

R. Smith, Secretary of State." 

The following was the oath of office : 

Territory of Louisiana. 

Be it remembered, That on the 25th day of April, 1809, per- 
sonally appeared before me, Otho Shrader, one of the Judges 
in and over the Territory of Louisiana, Nathaniel Pope, Esq., 
appointed Secretary in and for the Illinois territor}"-, by com- 
mission of the President of the United States, bearing date 
the 7th day of March last past, and took the following oath, 
to wit : That he will support the Constitution of the United 
States, and that he will perform the duties of his said office 
with fidelity, to the best of his knowledge and judgment. 

NAT. POPE. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me at the town of Ste. 
Genevieve, the day and year aforesaid. 

OTHO SHRADER. 

We give these forms as a specimen, for the information of 
our young readers, and others who may desire to know how 
such government matters are conducted. In substance, the 
commission and form of oath is the same for United States 
officers in all territorial organizations. 

On the 28th of April, a proclamation was issued by the Sec- 
retary as acting governor, making the counties of St. Clair 
and Randolph, counties of the Illinois territory. The next 
day, (29th,) application having been made to the acting gov- 
ernor, by affidavit before a justice of the peace, charging Jas. 
Dunlap with the murder of Rice Jones, and requesting the 
governor of the Orleans territory to deliver up said Dunlap. 
This murder was the result of an affray between the parties, 
the particulars of which are not distinct in the mind of the 
writer. 

On the 3d of May, the following persons were commissioned 
by the acting governor as justices of the peace : — 

Nicholas Jarrot, John Hay, Caldwell Cairns, Thomas Todd, 
Jacob A. Boyer, Jas. Lemen, sen., Enoch Moore, D. Badgley, 
James Bankston, William Biggs, Robert Elliot, John Finlay> 



718 Appendix. 

David White, Samuel S. Kennedy, Antoine Deschamps, Har- 
vey M. Fisher, and Nicholas Boilvin. John Hays was ap- 
pointed Sheriff, Enoch Moore Coroner, and Elias Rector, At- 
torney General. 

On the 11th of June, Ninian Edwards, Governor, arrived 
from Kentucky, and entered on the duties of his oltice. He 
had taken the oath before the Hon. Thomas Todd, Judge of 
the Supreme Court of Kentucky. On the 16th of the same 
month the Governor and two Judges, constituting the legisla- 
tive authority in the first stage of the territorial government, 
re-enacted the laws of the territory of Indiana, that were ap- 
plicable to Illinois. John Hay, (not the sheriff mentioned 
above,) was appointed clerk of the county of St. Clair, which 
office he held by successive re-appointments until his decease 
in 1845. 

Benjamin II. Doyle, who had been appointed Attorney Gen- 
eral in place of Elias Rector, having resigned, on the 30th 
of December, 1809, John Jourdon Crittenden was appointed 
Attorney General. On the 9th of April, 1801, the office be- 
coming again vacant, Thomas T. Crittenden was appointed. 

For eight years Illinois formed a part of Indiana, and the 
principal statutes of that territory were re-enacted by the 
Governor and Judges, and became the basis of statute law in 
Illinois, much of which, without change of phraseology, re- 
mains in the revised code of that State, as the same laws, in 
substance, originated in the legislation of the Governor and 
Judges of the North-Western territory ; and by the Governor 
and Judges of Indiana, were enacted in the territory of Lou- 
isiana during the period of their temporary jurisdiction west 
of the Mississippi, we give a synopsis of several of these 
ancient statutes. Since the penitentiary system of discipline 
and punishment has been introduced into all these States, the 
penalty of whipping and other inhuman modes of punishment 
have been changed to imprisonment with labor. 

We extract from the laws published in 1807, by Stout and 
Smoot, Vincennes, la. The volume comprises those acts for- 
merly in force and as revised by Messrs. John Rice Jones and 
John Johnson, territorial Judges, and passed (after some 
amendments by the territorial legislature ;) with the original 
acts passed at the first session of the second General Assem- 
bly of the territory. 



Synopsis of the Territorial Code. *J\^ 

At that period the counties in the whole territory, including 
Illinois, were Dearborn, Clark and Knox, (which probably in- 
cluded the eastern side of Illinois) in Indiana; and St. Clair 
and Randolph, in Illinois. 

Justices of the Peace. — A competent number for each coun- 
ty, — nominated and commissioned by the Governor; — power 
to take all manner of recognizances and obligations as any 
Justices of the Peace in the U. States ; — all to be certified to 
the Court of Common Pleas at next session, — but those for a 
felony belong to the Court of Oyer and Terminer. One 
or more Justices of the Peace, may hear and determine, by due 
course of law, any petty crimes and misdemeanor.^, where the 
punishment shall be fine only, not exceeding three dollars. — 
Justices required to commit the offender when crime was per- 
petrated in their sight without further testimony. All war- 
rants to be under the hand and seal of the justice. Justices to 
have power to punish by fine, as provided in the statute, all 
assaults and batteries not of an aggravated nature ; and cause 
to be arrested all affrayers, rioters and disturbers of the 
peace, and bind them over by recognizance to appear at the 
next General Court,or Court of Common Pleas, to be held with- 
in the county, and to require such persons to give security. 
Justices of the Peace to examine into all homicides, murders, 
treasons, and felonies, done in their respective counties, and 
commit to prison all persons suspected to be guilty of man- 
slaughter, murder, treason, or other capital offence, and hold 
to bail all pereons suspected to be guilty of lesser offences ; 
and require sureties for the good behavior of idle, vagrant, 
disorderly characters; swindlers and gamblers, as well as 
every description of disorderly and vagrant persons. 

Courts. — Courts of Common Pleas were organized in each 
county, of three Judges, any two of whom were a quorum. — 
They were appointed and commissioned by the Governor for 
and during good behavior. Said Court to hear and determine, 
according to the common law, all crimes and misdemeanors, 
the punishment whereof did not extend to life, limb, impris- 
onment for one year, or forfeiture of goods and chattels, lands 
and tenements. This Court held pleas of assize, scire facias, 
replevins, and was empowered to hear and determine all man- 
ner of pleas, suits, actions and crimes, real, personal, and 
mixed, according to law. The Court held annually six ses- 



720 Appendix. 

sions, at three of which no suits for criminal causes should be 
tried. [This provision was made for speedy justice in all civil 
actions.] 

If the court was not opened on the day appointed, the sheriff 
could adjourn from day to day for two days, and then until 
the next term. 

Compensation of the judges of this court vca.% two dollars 
and fifty cents per day, paid from the county levy. 

This court had power to take all recognizances and obliga- 
tions, and all not triable in said court to be certified to the 
next court of oyer and terminer. All fines to be duly and 
truly assessed according to the quality of the offence, without 
affection or partiality. 

Criminals who had absconded from the counties to be 
brought back by warrant. Any person aggrieved may appeal 
to the General Court. All writs issued to be in the name of the 
United States. Judges had power to grant under seal, replev- 
ins, writs of partition, icrits of view, and all other writs and 
process, under said pleas and actions, cognizable in said court, 
as occasion may require. 

The court may issue subpoonas, under seal, and signed by 
any clerk, into any county in the territory, summoning any 
witness. The clerk of said court was appointed by the gov- 
ernor during good behavior. 

Supreme Court. — Styled General Court — held twice a year 
at Vincennes, first Tuesdays in April and September; — had 
authority to issue writs of habeas corpus, certiorari, and writs 
of error. The members of the court were constituted circuit 
judges, and required to hold a circuit court once in each year 
in the counties of Dearborn, Clark, Randolph and St. Clair. 
This court was empowered to hear and determine all cases, 
matters and things, cognizable in said court; — to examine and 
correct errors of inferior courts, and punish ; — to punish the 
"contempts, omissions, neglects, favors, corruptions and de- 
faults of all justices of peace, sheriffs, coroners, clerks, and all 
other officers; — award process to collect all fines, forfeitures 
and amercements;" — to hold courts of oyer and terminer, and 
general jail delivery. The governor was empowered to call 
a special term for capital offences. 

Jurymen were required to attend, and fined for non-attend- 



Synopsis of the Territorial Code. 721 

ance, not exceeding eight dollars in the General Court, and 
five dollars in the court of common pleas. 

Sheriffs were appointed by the governor, and bonds of four 
thousand dollars required. Their duty was to keep the peace, 
cause all offenders to give recognizances, quell and suppress all 
affrays, routs, riots and insurrections, and call to their aid all 
the power of the county ; pursue, apprehend and commit to 
jail all criminals, felons, traitors and fugitives from justice ; 
execute all processes, attend all courts of record ; have custody 
of the jail of the county, and do all other dutie% enjoined by 
law. 

Oaths of office. — Every person appointed to a civil office 
must make oath, or affirmation. The form used was as fol- 
lows: — 

"I, A. B. being appointed to the office of , do solemnly 

swear I will execute the duties of my said office, according to 
the best of my skill and understanding, without favor, or par- 
tiality, so help me God." 

Any officer or other person scrupulously conscientious of tak- 
ing an oath, may Affirm according to the following form : — 

"I, A. B., being appointed to the office of , do solemnly, 

sincerely, and truly declare and affirm, that 1 will well and truly 
execute the duties of my said office, according to the best of 
my skill and understanding, without fraud or partiality, and 1 
declare and affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury." 

Oaths and affirmations to be taken before the governor, or 
such other persons as he may appoint and commission ; and 
in absence of the governor, by the judges. 

Grimes and Punishments. — Capital crimes are treason, mur- 
der, arson, rape, and horse-stealing, on second conviction. Petit 
treason defined and punished as murder. Capital punish- 
ment to be inflicted by hanging. 

Manslaughter punished as the common law heretofore point- 
ed out. Burglary by whipping, not more than thirty-nine 
lashes, and to find sureties for good behavior for three years ; 
and on default of sureties, to be committed to jail for the 
term of three years. 

If goods were actually stolen, the culprit to be fined treble 
the value of the goods stolen. If personal violence or injury 
were done, the penalty was forfeiture of all the estate of the 



722 Appendix. 

convict, out of which the party injured was to be remunera- 
ted. If death was caused, it was deemed murder. 

Robbery of goods by force on the highway or field, the same 
as burglary. If any person was killed, the act was murder. 
All abettors were regarded principals. 

Riots and unlawful Assemblies. — Three or more persons as- 
sembling for mischief, or intention of any unlawful violence 
against the person or property of another, were fined each 
the sum of sixteen dollars and costs, and had to find securities 
for good bel^vior six months. In case of riots, all ministerial 
and judicial officers present, were required to make proclama- 
tion. If the rioters did not disperse, then they were required 
to call on all persons near, to suppress it; — if they cannot, 
then call on the military. If any citizen or soldier refuses to 
act, he was fined ten dollars. If any rioters were killed by 
the citizens or authorities when called on, the act was not 
criminal. 

For obstriicliag lawful a illwrity, the fine was not to exceed 
three hundred dollars; to be whipped not exceeding thirty- 
nine lashes, and find security for good behavior one year. On 
second conviction, the penalty was fine, whipping, and surety 
for three years. 

Pcijury. — Fine not exceeding sixty dollars, or be whipped 
not exceeding thirty-nine lashes; sit in the pillory not exceed- 
ing two hours, and be incapacitated for giving testimony, or 
being a juror, or sustaining any civil or militar}- ofiice. Pro- 
curing perjury, the same as if committed by the individual. 

Larceny. — P'irst offence, the penalty was to restore the value 
two-fold ; or be whipped not over thirty-one stripes ; — second 
offence, restitution, a fine not exceeding four-fold, and whip- 
ped not exceeding thirty-nine stripes. If the culprit had no 
property to pay the fine, the sheriff was to bind him out to 
servitude, under direction of the court, seven years, lleceivers 
of stolen goods to be deemed principals, and punished ac- 
cordingly. Any person compounding for stolen goods, upon 
conviction, shall forfeit twice the value, but no person was de- 
barred from taking his own property if he prosecuted the thief. 
No parent was obliged to prosecute his own child. 

Forgery. — Penalty, double the sum defrauded by the forgery, 
imposed ;as a fine, — one half to the party injured — the culprit 
rendered incapable of giving testimony, serving on a jury, or 



Synopsui of the Territorial Code. 723 

sustaining any office of trust ; — and to set in the pillory not 
less than three hours. All persons aiding to be deemed 
principals. 

Usurpation of OJficc. — On conviction, to be fined not exceed- 
ing one hundred dollars. 

Assault and Battery. — Fine not over one hundred dollars, 
and surety for good behavior one year. 

Fraudidcnl Deeds; — with intent to deceive and defraud, 
were null and void; — fine not over three hundred dollars, and 
damages to the injured party. 

Disobedience of Children or Sjrvants. On complaint to justice 
of the peace, he may send to jail, or the house of correction, 
to remain there until sufficiently humbled. For striking the 
parent or master, on conviction before two justices, the party 
shall be whipped not exceeding ten stripes. 

Obtaining Goods under Fraudulent Pretences. — Penalty same 
as larceny. 

Arson. — For setting fire to, or burning any building, the pen- 
alty was death! 

Horse-stealing. — First conviction to pay the value and costs, 
and receive not less than fifty, nor more than two hundred 
stripes ; and stand committed to jail until the value and costs 
were paid. For second conviction, death ! 

Hog-stealing. — For stealing, marking, or altering the marks 
of the hog kind ; penalty not less than fifty nor more than 
two hundred dollars; and also not less than twenty-five, nor 
over thirty-nine stripes. Persons may mark their own un- 
marked hogs while running at large. 

For altering or defacing any marks or brands of cattle, hor- 
ses, hogs, etc., penalty, five dollars, besides the value of the 
animal. Prosecution to be within six months after discovery : 
and, moreover, to receive forty stripes. For second offence, 
to pay the fine aforesaid, and stand in the pillory two hours, 
and be branded on the left hand with the letter T. 

For mis-marking or branding, etc., fine, five dollars. 

[In all frontier settlements, horses, cattle, hogs, etc., run at 
large on the range. Horses are commonly branded, and cat- 
tle and hogs marked in the ear: each settler having his pe- 
culiar mark, which is recorded in books of the county. Hence 
the severe penalties for marking, etc.] 

Persons who know of this oflence and conceal it, and not 



724 Appendix. 

discover it to some magistrate within ten days, shall pay a fine 
of ten dollars. Persons killing cattle or hogs in the woods, 
shall show the heads to some magistrate, or to two substan- 
tial freeholders, within three days, on penalty of ten dollars. 
Every man shall have an car-mark, and record it in the clerk's 
office of the county where he resides. 

Maiming. — Penalty for unlawfully cutting, maiming, biting, 
gouging a member or limb, maliciously and in fighting, 
fine not less than fifty, nor more than one thousand dollars; to 
be confined in jail not less than one, nor more than six months; 
one-fourth of the fine to the territory, and three-fourths to the 
party injured. For want of means to pay the fine, the party 
to be sold for a term not exceeding five years. 

Sodom]/, is defined the crime " against nature," and with 
beasts. Fine not less than fifty, nor more than five hundred 
dollars; imprisonment not less than one, nor more than five 
years; whipping not less than one hundred nor more than^five 
hundred stripes ; and accounted infamous, and incapable of 
holding any ofiice, or giving testimony. 

Bigamy. — Penalty, to be whipped not less than one hundred 
nor more than three hundred stripes; fine, not less than one 
hundred, nor more than five hundred dollars, for the use of the 
party injured ; and imprisonment not less than six, nor more 
than twelve months, and made infamous. Provided, one party 
be beyond the seas for seven years, or elsewhere the same pe- 
riod and not heard from, the marriage is lawful. Forcible or 
stolen marriages made felony. 

For marrying a minor without the guardian's consent; — im- 
prisonment not more than two years. 

Selling Criminals. — Persons convicted and unable to pay 
fines and costs, may be sold, or hired out to pay the demapd. 
If such per.sons abscond, they may be whipped thirty-nine 
stripes, and serve two days for one. 

Marriages. — Males of seventeen, and females of fourteen 
years, may lawfully marry. Judges of the General Court, 
and Court of Common Pleas; .Justices of the Peace in each 
county; Ministers of the Gospel in any religious society in 
the district in which they are settled; and the society of 
Quakers in their public meetings, may join together the par- 
ties in marriage. Intentions of the parties to be publisHed, 
either three times in religious meetings, or a public notice set 



Synopsis of the Territorial Code. 725 

up under the hand and seal of a magistrate; — or a license 
from the clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas, authorizing 
marriage. Fee for license one dollar, and the clerk to record 
the certificate of the person who officiates. Males under the 
age of twenty-one, and females under eighteen years, not to 
marry, unless leave be obtained of the parents and guardian. 
[The plan of license from the clerk, has been the exclusive 
mode in Illinois.] 

Coroners to be appointed by the Governor in each county, 
and their duties w^ere prescribed by law^ 

Townships. — The Court of Common Pleas were authorized 
to divide the counties into townships, and establish bounda- 
ries to the same. 

[In Illinois, the township divisions were abolished, and the 
only civil division has been counties, until recently under the 
new Constitution, the counties are authorized to organize 
townships, upon a vote of the people.] 

Prisons and Prison Bounds. — Courts of Common Pleas to 
lay off prison bounds, not to exceed more than two hundred 
yards from the jail. Persons imprisoned for debt, by giving 
bond with double security for the debt, ma}^ use bounds. [No 
imprisonment for debt has existed in these Slates; consequent- 
ly "prison bounds" are unknown ] 

Persons who convey tools and other aid in the escape of a 
prisoner, to be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars; and 
if the prisoner escape, the abettor to be liable to the same 
penalty as the prisoner. But if liable to capital punishment, 
he who aids in escape, shall be fined, whipped, imprisoned, 
stand in the pillory, or sit on the gallows with a rope around 
his neck, as the Court may order. Jailors who suffer a pris- 
oner to escape voluntarily, shall sufier the same penalties as 
any other abettor. 

The Judges of the Court of Common Picas to enquire into 
the condition of the prison at each term. 

Sherifi^s required to keep persons of different sexes in sepa- 
rate rooms, unless married ; to provide proper food, meat, 
drink and bread; and if the prisoner be unable to pay, the 
count}^ to be taxed for such expenses. 

Execution Laws.^Real estate to be sold for debt, under 
judgment. Personal property to be advertised by the sheriff, 
ten days previous to sale. 



726 Si/nopsis of the Territorial Code. 

Administration Laws. — Clerks of the Courts of Common 
Pleas to take proofs of wills; grant letters of administration 
during vacancy of Court. The Court of Common Pleas Nvas 
the Probate Court. Rights of minors and orphans well guar- 
ded and secured. No minor or orphan to be put under the 
control of persons of a different religious persuasion from their 
parents; nor against their own mind or inclination. 

The true interest or meaning of testator to be duly regar- 
ded in all wills. Administrators to give bonds with two or 
more sureties ; respect being had to the value of the estate. 
Children of intestates to share equally in the distribution of 
the estate. When no heirs, the widow to have one half the es- 
tate. Courts of Common Pleas may order sale of real estate, 
where the personal estate is not sufficient to pay the debts, or 
support and educate the children. 

Tavern Lieenscs. — No person to keep a tavern, ale-house, 
dram-shop, or house of entertainment, [in which any intoxica- 
ting liquor is sold] without license, under penalty of one dol- 
lar each day; two-thirds to the poor of the county, and one- 
third to the informer. No licensed person shall allow drunk- 
enness, gaming, etc., in or about his house, under penalty of 
five dollars. 

All tavern keepers shall provide good entertainment for 
man and beast ; penalty five dollars. 

The Court shall demand twelve dollars for license to keep 
a tavern, annually. No license to be granted unless the per- 
son becomes bound to the Governor of the Territory to keep 
an orderly house, and conform to the law in every respect. 

Another act provided that no license shall be granted, "un- 
less the person requiring the same shall first become bound to 
the Governor of the Territory, with security, if required, in 
any sum not exceeding three hundred dollars, that he, she, or 
they, obtaining such licen.se, shall, at all times, be prepared to 
accommodate lour lodgers, and stabling and feed for four hor- 
ses." 

Severe penalties were enacted for selling intoxicating li- 
quors to Indians, slaves, apprentices and minors. 

We have given a synopsis only of such statutes as may 
serve to illustrate the principles of Territorial Legislation in 
all the North- Western region. Most of the same principles 
have been transferred to Oregon, and form the basis of law in 



Appendix. 727 

that remote Territory. Similar statutes pertaining to the Ter- 
ritory of Louisiana, may be found in the Territorial Laws of 
Missouri, 1842, volume i. pp. 15 to ti6. 



Note. — Since the caption of this chapter was prepared and 
went to press, we have thought it to be expedient to alter our 
plan. " Incidents of war in Illinois," we have reserved for 
the next chapter, and substituted the foregoing " Si/nopsis,'" in 
its place. By an oversight, the caption of Section First, was 
left out in the contents of the chapter. 



CHAPTER IIL 
INCIDENTS OF THE WAR. 

Threatening aspects of the Icdiatis — Various incidents of the AVar in Illinois and Mis- 
souri — Expedition to Peoria and Erection of Fort Clark. 

SECTION FIRST. 
Indian HostiUtlea Threatened. 

The manifestation of hostile intentions among some of the 
tribes of northern Indians, was made as early as 1S09. Even 
in December, 1808, the sub-agent on the Missouri, wrote to 
General William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs at 
St. Louis, as follows : — 

"lam sorry to inform you, that on the loth instant, a cer- 
tain John Rufty was fired upon and killed, about six miles 
above this place, [Fort Osage.] Rufty belonged to McClel- 
land's party of hunters. 

There were only two men in a canoe ; the survivor was un- 
able to ascertain to what nation of Indians the party belonged. 
On that subject there are various conjectures; some suspect 
the Kanzas, others the lowas, the Ottoes, the Sioux, and the 
Panis." 

By the requisition of the Secretary of War, under the act 
of Congress of 1808, for arming and equiping one hundred 
thousand militia in the United States, Governor Lewis of the 



728 Indian Hostilities Manifested . 

territory of Louisiana, made proclamation for raising and 
equipping three Imndred and seventy-seven militia of the ter- 
ritory, which were duly apportioned in the counties of St. 
Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, New 
Madrid, and Arkansas. 

On the 28th of June, 1809, Nicholas Jarrot, of Cahokia, 
who had just returned from Prairie du Chien, made affidavit, 
that the British Agents and traders at that place, and on the 
Frontiers of Canada, were stirring up the Indians, furnishing 
them guns and ammunition, and preparing them for hostile 
demonstrations. 

In November, a communication from Messrs. Portier and 
Bleakly, of Prairie du Chien, denying the statements of M. 
Jarrot. They were persons implicated. About the same 
period, hostile demonstrations were made on the part of the 
Sac and Fox nations, against Fort Madison. During the same 
month, hostilities commenced between the Osages and lowas ; 
the latter having killed some of the former, not far from 
where Liberty is now situated, north of the Missouri river. 
In 1810, hostile demonstrations were made by the Indians on 
the Wabash. [Annals, 577 to 581.] 

It was in July, 1810, that a band of hostile Indians, sup- 
posed to be Pottawatomics, came into a frontier settlement on 
the Loutre, at the upper partof Loutre Island, and nearly op- 
posite the mouth of the Gasconade river, and stole a number 
of horses. A company was raised, consisting of Stephen 
Cooper, William T. Cole, Messrs. Brown, Gooch, Patton, and 
another person, making six, who followed the Indians acro-ss 
Grand Prairie to a branch of Salt river, called Bone Lick. 
The party discovered the Indians, eight in number, who, in 
the retreat, threw off their packs and plunder, and scattered 
in the woods. Night coming on, the party struck a camp and 
immediately lay down to sleep, though Stephen Cole, the 
leader, warned them against it, and proposed a guard. This 
notion was hooted at as an evidence of cowardice. About 
mid-night they were awakened by the "Indian yelT' and the 
death-dealing bullet ! Stephen Cole killed four Indians and 
wounded the fifth, though severely wounded himself. W. T. 
Cole, his brother, was killed at the commencement of the 
fight. Two others of the party were killed. 

The survivors reached the settlements next morning to tell 



Appendix. 729 

the dreadful tidings, and a party returned to the ground, buri- 
ed the dead, but found the Indians had escaped. 

We obtained this incident from Samuel Cole, in 1849, whose 
father was killed in the action, but he gave it from memory, 
and placed it in 1807. The early files of the "Gazette," pub- 
lished in St. Louis from 1808, is our authority for the date of 
this and several preceding incidents. 

The settlement on the Loutre, commenced, probably, in 
1806 or 1807, and until 1810, was the "Far West," except the 
French hamlet of Cote Sans Dessein. During that year emi- 
grant families found their way to the 'Boone's Lick country," 
now Howard county, Missouri. The incidents of the war in 
that quarter, we will leave for a subsequent section. 

In July, 1811, a company of "rangers," or mounted rifle- 
men, was raised in Goshen settlement, Illinois. The intelli- 
gence of the battle of Tippecanoe was peculiarly alarming to 
the inhabitants of Illinois and Missouri, and measures as 
prompt and efficient as circumstances admitted, were adopted 
by the Governors of the two territories. 

Early in 1812, the Indians on the Upper Mississippi were 
very hostile, and committed frequent murders. 

An express from Fort Madison came down the river on the 
ice in a sleigh, with some traders, and reached St. Louis on 
the 13th of February. They were fired on frequently by war 
parties, and especially a few miles above Salt river, where the 
Indians chased them some distance. A family by the name 
of O'Neal was killed in the district of St. Charles, about the 
same time. 

The following item from the Louisiana Gazette of March 
21, is corroborated by other evidence : 

"Since Christmas last, the following murders have been com- 
mitted by the Indians in this country. Tico persons near the 
Mines on the Mississippi, nine in the district of St. Charles 
within the settlements, supposed to be killed by the Kicka- 
poos ; one man at Fort Madison, on the third instant, by the 
Winnebagoes. There were several men who left Fort Madi- 
son for this part of the territory, about the 17th February, 
who are supposed to have fallen into the hands of the enemy, 
as they have not been heard of. 

"Main Poc, the Pottawatomie chief, is preparing a war 
party to proceed against the Osages. This fellow has been 
lately at Fort Maiden, and it is thought at Peoria that he in- 
tends to strike at the whites. 
46 



730 Indian Hostilities Increase. 

"Travelers and spies who have been amongst them, all con- 
cur in the same story, that the Indians have no desire to make 
peace with us ; that red wampum is passing through the up- 
per villages, from the Sioux of St. Peters, to the head of the 
Wabash ; that at every council fire the Americans are devo- 
ted and proscribed; and in short, that a general corrbination 
is ripening fast." 

At the same period, the few companies of rangers, raised by 
the act of Congress, and the militia volunteers, were the only 
defence of the towns "and settlements of Missouri and Il- 
linois. 

A company of rangers under command of Capt. Kibby, in 
the district of St. Charles, as fine a body of hardy pioneers as 
ever took the field, by constant and rapid movements, pro- 
tected the tract of country from the mouth of Salt river to 
Loutre Island on the Missouri. 

In the month of April, 1812, a deputation of Pottawato- 
mies, Kickapoos and Chippeways, came down the Mississippi, 
headed by Gomo, to negotiate a treaty with Gov. Edwards. 
They met at Cahokia, where the Governor addressed them in 
a forcible speech, told them of the strong desire of our gov- 
ernment to maintain peace and harmony with all the Indian 
nations ; — warned them of the arts and deceptions of the 
Shawanese prophet, and the agents and traders from Canada; 
assured them he perfectly understood the hostile dispositions 
of the Indians ; the murders and depredations already com- 
mitted ; and the combination amongst the tribes attempted 
to be formed ; and should adopt energetic measures to pro- 
tect the white people. He insisted that the murderers must 
be delivered up, or the whole nation w^ould sutler. 

They professed to be humble, professed their inability to 
deliver up the murderers, laid the blame on the Winnebagoes, 
and promised good behavior on their part. Some of these 
fellows were concerned in the massacre at Chicago in Au- 
gust. 

During the summer of 1812, hostile Indians were lurking 
about the settlements in the Boone's Lick country, and along 
the Missouri river. Fort Mason had been established on the 
Misssissippi, as a rendezvous for the United States troops and 
rangers. Of this class of troops, who furnished their own 
horses, equipments, forage and rations, at one dollar per day, 



Appendix. 731 

ten companies were raised by an act of the last Congress ; 
four in Illinois, two in Missouri, and four in Indiana. The 
term of service was for one year, but by re-enlistments were 
continued from year to year during the war. 

Two companies in Illinois, and one in Missouri, had been 
raised the preceding year. These rangers, as a protection to 
the defenceless settlements, were a most effective corps. — 
Many were heads of families, and all were of the most enter- 
prizing and industrious class of citizens, and deeply interested 
in the defence of their families and friends. 

It is no more than justice to this worthy class of citizens, 
who defended the settlements in the now flourishing States of 
Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, that we should devote a page 
or two of this work to this subject. And we cannot do it bet- 
ter justice than in the language of a Memorial from the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Illinois, in 1833, to the Congress of the Uni- 
ted States, asking for a donation of land, as was given to re- 
gular soldiers. 

" To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in 
Congress assembled : 

Your memorialists, the General Assembly of the State of 
Illinois, would respectfully present to your honorable body, 
the necessity and justice of calling your attention to the re- 
lief of the soldiers who defended this frontier during the late 
war: — The class of citizens, now for the first time attempted 
to be brought forward to your consideration, are not the least 
deserving your aid, though they are the last almost of your 
defenders of our country who have asked for any remunera- 
tion. Their claims to this attention and favor of Government 
will be better understood by a brief outline of the condition 
of the country, the nature of their services, and the great re- 
liance and dependence placed upon their faithfulness, forti- 
tude and courage. In the year 1812, and long before, the set- 
tlements of this country were confined to a few inhabitants 
on the margins of the rivers Mississippi and Ohio, while all 
between was a wilderness so little frequented by the whites, 
that it was the constant abode of the Indian ; when the late 
war broke out, the inhabitants were always open to their at- 
tack, and actually subject to their perpetual hostilities. In 
this state of things the weakness of their situation caused them 
to erect a house here and there something larger than their 
ordinary dwellings, which they dignified with the name of 
"station;" some of them had not even this primitive defence, 
and with it they were exposed, either to the open assault, or 



732 Memorial for the Rangers. 

the sly ambush of the enemy, and were daily falling a human 
sacrifice to the most ferocious cruelty. To depict their situa- 
tion, in one word, it is only necessary to say, that a few ad- 
venturers had left a peaceable and cultivated land, where the 
savage war-whoop was known only by " tale or history," and 
settled in an Indian country, destitute of money and the ne- 
cessaries they had been accustomed to ; a little spot of corn 
ground was their only hope of subsistence, and with a sword 
slung to the plough handle they cultivated it. Thus the lives 
and property of the whites were always in jeopardy and often 
destroyed ; and the government of the territory itself, which 
had been recently established under the authority of the Uni- 
ted States, was immediately in danger. The late war with 
Great Britain breaking out just at this time with all its vio- 
lence, and while the great body of the forces of the United 
States were engaged in defending the more populous and val- 
uable parts of the Union, this territory was without the paren- 
tal aid of the Government; left to rely upon its own strength 
and courage for its defence against the Indians, who lay en- 
camped in myriads within it. The then Governor of the Ter- 
ritory, Ninian Edwards, by his prompt and vigorous exertions, 
contributed greatly to advance the means of defence, and by 
acts of disinterested patriotism and magnanimity, almost un- 
exampled, relieved the necessities of the soldiers by advan- 
cing from his private funds their pay, without which they could 
not have rendered any service. Relying upon individual means 
and seeking only to relieve the country of distress, the class 
of citizens whose claims it is the object of this memorial to 
urge, came boldly forward, and did elliectually defend the citi- 
zens and property of the United States. It has not escaped 
the observation of your memorialists that it may be contended 
that one dollar per day, which was the allowance to each in- 
dividual, was more than usual for soldiers, and extremely lib- 
eral ; but in the estimation of your memorialists, their servi- 
ces have far outgone that consideration, for the ranger was 
bound, out of this, to furnish himself with a horse, arms, cloth- 
ing, ammunition, and provisions ; not one cent Mas ever con- 
tributed by Government towards their sustenance, no conven- 
ience provided, but that, which their own well earned money 
paid for. 

Many of them had families, whose reliance for support was 
upon him who was upon duty, and who were provided for out 
of his wages; while in service they often failed in cultivating 
their farms for an entire season, and the loss of a crop to the 
inhabitants of the territory was a misfortune of no small mag- 
nitude. Add to these circumstances, the information that a 
horse of middling qualities would cost 100 dollars, a gun from 
twenty-five to forty dollars, and all other articles of consump- 
tior, use or necessity cost in the same proportion. Deduct 



Appendix. 733 

from their pay those articles of necessity, without which they 
were not qualified for service, what remains as a remunera- 
tion for the time, service and devotion of these citizen soldiers? 
Your memorialists answer unhesitatingly, nothing. They left 
their fire-sides, their families, and their farms, penetrated the 
uninhabited wilderness, traversed countries without roads or 
bridges; and met without a murmur, all the inclemencies of 
the weather " to beard the lion in his den," the savage in his 
ambuscade, and rid the country of violence, outrage and 
death. 

For services like these, your memorialists relj'ing confident- 
ly upon the justice and liberality of Congress, ask for a remu- 
neration to all these organized militiamen, mounted militia- 
men, and rangers who defended this frontier during the late 
war under the authority of Congress. There are near thirty 
millions of acres of unappropriated lands in the State of Illi- 
nois. A liberal donation of this land would be but little ex- 
pense to the General Government, and would be of great ad- 
vantage to those for whom it is asked, and an easy method of 
remunerating such signal services and so devotedly rendered. 
Which was read. 

On the question. Will the House concur with the commit- 
tee, in the adoption of said memorial? ^ 

It was decided in the affirmative. 

SECTION SECOND. 
Incidents of the War continued. 

It was in the month of April, 1812, that three families were 
murdered by the Indians, at no great distance from Vin- 
cennes. One was the family of Mr. Hutson,on the Wabash ; 
another, the family of Mr. Harriman, on the Embarras, and 
the third a family of Mr. Hinton, on Driftwood fork of White 
river. In May, a party of Indians came to the house of a 
Mr. McGowan, about forty miles from Vincennes, and killed 
him in bed. His family escaped. 

The news of the declaration of war produced no other ef- 
fect than to inspire the people with more zeal in defending 
the settlements and repelling the savage foe that hovered 
around them. 

There was a United States factory and a small stockade 
fort at Bellevue, up the Mississippi, which was besieged by a 
party of Winnebagoes, about two hundred in number. It was 
not an eligible situation for defence, as from points of steep 
and high bluffs, the invaders could throw fire-brands and burn- 



734 Incidents of the War Continued. 

ing sticks on the block-houses. The commanding officer, Lt. 
Thomas Hamilton, with Lieutenant B. Vasquez and a small 
force, resolutely defended the fort, and drove off the assail- 
ants. 

We have already given a sketch of the expedition of Gov- 
ernor Edwards and Colonel Russell, against the Kickapoos at 
the head of Peoria Lake. [Annals, 617 — 619.] 

The year 1813, opened with gloomy prospects to these far 
off and exposed territories. On the 9th of February, ten In- 
dians contrived to elude the vigilance of the rangers in Illi- 
nois, passed down near the Wabash, and massacred two fami- 
lies at the mouth of Cache [Cash] river, on the Ohio, seven 
miles from the Mississippi. 

Indians frequently crossed the Mississippi above the mouth 
of the Illinois river, and committed depredations, killed and 
scalped individuals, and in some instances families, in Saint 
Charles county. The exposed settlements were in the district 
now included in Lincoln and Pike counties. 

In the month of March, David McLain, a minister of the 
gospel, and a Mr. Young, traveling from the Boone's Lick 
settlement into Kentucky, after having crossed the Kaskaskia 
river at *' Hill's ferry," in the present county of Clinton, in 
Illinois, were fired on by a party of Indians. Young was 
killed and scalped; McLain's horse was shot, and fell, but he 
escaped in the woods, and ran with great speed, with several 
Indians in chase. Soon all fell back but one, who was an 
athletic fellow, and appeared determined not to lose his prey. 
Mr. McLain was encumbered with a thick overcoat, wrap- 
pers on his legs and spurs on his feet. The Indian fired and 
missed him, which gave him a little chance to throw off his 
coat, in hopes the prize would attract the attention of the 
savage. Finding no other Indians in pursuit, and as this one 
approached, McLain would make signs of surrender, until 
the Indian was within a few feet, when he would assume an 
attitude of defiance, watch the motion of his enemy, and at 
the instant he fired, dodge the ball and then put on all his en- 
ergy to escape. The contest continued for more than an hour, 
during which^is foe fired at him seven times. In one case, 
as he threw his breast forward, he unfortunately threw his 
elbow back and received the ball in his arm 

During the chase he contrived to throw off his boots. They 



Appendix. 735 

had made a considerable distance in the timbered bottom down 
the river. Finding himself nearly exhausted, the last and 
only chance was to swim the river. He plunged in, making 
the utmost effort of his remaining strength, and yet he had to 
keep an eye constantly fixed on his wily foe, who had loaded 
his gun the eighth time, and from the bank brought it to a 
poise, and fired a second after McLain had dove in deep 
water. By swimming diagonally down stream he had gained 
on his pursuer, who, with the peculiar yell on such occasions, 
gave up the chase. Doubtless his report to the braves was, 
that he had followed a " great medicine," who was so charm- 
ed that his musket balls could not kill him. Mr. McLain was 
so exhausted that it was with the utmost difficulty he could 
crawl up the bank; having, in a state of profuse perspiration, 
plunged into the cold water of the river. He was wet, chill- 
ed, badly wounded, and scarcely able to stand. Two days 
previous, two or three families about Hill's ferry, had become 
alarmed from Indian " signs," and removed to the west of Sil- 
ver creek. It was thirty-five miles to the Badgley settlement, 
which McLain, after incredible effort and suffering, reached 
the next morning. Here with his wound and a severe fever, 
he lay several weeks. A party of volunteers went over the 
Kaskaskia, buried Mr. Young, found Mr. McLain's saddle- 
bags, but saw no Indians. 

The fact of this rencontre may be found in the "Missouri 
Gazette" of March 20th ; the particulars we obtained from 
the heroic sufferer at his residence in Howard county. Mo., in 
1818. 

A farmer, of the name of Boltenhouse, was killed near the 
Wabash, a few miles south of Albion, in a little prairie that 
perpetuates his name. A Mr. Moore and his son, while haul- 
ing a load of corn in the South-Eastern part of Jefferson coun- 
ty, Illinois, were killed and scalped in the prairie that bears 
his name. One or two more persons were killed between that 
place and the U. S. Saline. 

The " Gazette" reckons "sixteen men, women, and children 
who fell victims to savage ferocity, in Missouri and Illinois, 
between February 8th and March 20th." 

The same paper has a communication from a gentleman in 
Illinois, of the efforts of the " rangers" and "volunteers," un- 



736 Incidents of the War Continued. 

der the direction of Governor Edwards, to protect the settle- 
ments. 

"We have now nearly finished twenty-two family forts, 
[stations,] extending from the Mississippi, nearly opposite 
Uellefontaine, [mouth of the Missouri,] to the Kaskaskia river, 
a distance of about sixty miles. Between each fort, spies are 
to pass and repass daily, and communicate throughout the 
whole line, which will be extended to the U. S. Saline, and from 
thence to the mouth of the Ohio. Rangers and mounted 
militia, to the amount of five hundred men, constantly scour 
the country from twenty to fifty miles in advance of our set- 
tlements, so that we feel perfectly easy as to an attack from 
our 'red brethren,' as Mr. Jefterson very lovingly calls them." 

Notwithstanding these measures, the Indians would fre- 
quently prowl through the unsettled country between Kaskas- 
kia and the Ohio river, and occasionally commit outrages. 
On the last of April they attacked a house about twelve miles 
south-east of that town, and tomahawked and scalped a 
boy. 

Amongst the British traders, that had great influence over 
the northern Indians, was a Mr. Robert Dickson, who, at this 
period, had stationed himself at Prairie du Chien, and furnished 
the savages with large supplies of goods and munitions of 
war. Mr. Dickson had the manners and appearance of a 
gentleman, but doubtless, as did many other British subjects, 
who anticipated a war between Great Britain and the United 
States, felt himself authorized to enlist the Indians as parti- 
sans. 

About the first of June, (1813,) Mr. Manuel Lisa, a citizen 
of St. Louis, and an acting partner of the Missouri Fur Com- 
pany, arrived from the Mandan villages on the Upper Mis- 
souri. He reported, [Gazette, June 5,] that the Auricarees, 
Chiennes, Gros Ventres, Crows, and Arrapahoes, were hostile 
to the Americans ; that the British North West Company had 
a number of trading houses within a short distance of the 
w^aters of the Missouri, and were active in their endeavors to 
enlist the savages against the Americans. 

About this period, Benjamin Howard, Governor of Mis- 
souri, resigned the office, and accepted the commission of 
Brigadier-General in command of the rangers in both territo- 
ries, and as the United States government had made no pro- 
vision to sustain the militia volunteers, those in Illinois were 



Appendix. 737 

discharged from further services by Governor Edwards, as 
Commander-in-chief. The order is dated on the eighth of 
June. 

About twenty horses were stolen by Indians on the remote 
settlements of Shoal creek, Illinois, during this month. 

Fort Madison, (in Iowa, above the Lower Rapids,) was sub- 
ject to repeated attacks from the Sacs, Foxes and Winncba- 
goes. 

"On the 16th of July, the enemy carried a block-house, 
lately erected by the commanding officer, to command a ra- 
vine in which they had taken advantage in all their attacks 
upon this place ; they kept up a fire on the garrison for about 
two hours. This is the ninth or tenth rencontre that has taken 
place on our frontier, between the 4th and 17th of this month." 
— [Gazette, July 31st.] 

An editorial in the same paper, gives some important facts 
concerning Prairie du Chien, and the resources at the trading 
posts in Wisconsin, for supplying both British and Indians in 
their hostilities. A letter about the same time from Governor 
Edwards to Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, designed to call 
the attention of the government to the occupancy of that 
position, contains similar facts. We copy the editorial : 

"Last winter, we endeavored to turn the attention of gov- 
ernment towards Prairie du Chien, a position which we ought 
to occupy, by establishing a military post at the village, or on 
the Ouisconsin, six miles below. 

"For several months we have not been able to procure any 
other than Indian information from the Prairie, the enemy 
having cut off all communication with us ; but we are per- 
suaded that permanent subsistence can be obtained for one 
thousand regular troops in the upper lake country. At Prai- 
rie du Chien there are about fifty families, most of whom are 
engaged in agriculture ; their common field is four miles long, 
by half a mile in breadth. Besides this field, they have three 
separate farms of considerable extent, and twelve horse mills 
to manufacture their produce. 

"At the village of L'abre Croche, an immense quantity of 
corn is raised: from thence to Milwaukee, on lake Michigan, 
there are several villages where corn is grown extensively. 
These supplies, added to the fine fish which abound in the 
lakes and rivers, will furnish the enemy's garrison with pro- 
vision in abundance. 

* # * * * * * 

"Our little garrison on the Mississippi, half way up to the 



738 Views of Governor Edwards. 

Prairie, has taught the Indians a few lessons on prudence. 
With about thirty efl'ective men, those brave and meritorious 
soldiers, Lieutenant Hamilton and A'asquez, in a wretched 
pen, improperly called a ibrt, beat off five hundred savages of 
the North-west." 

This was BcUevue, already noticed, and the site of the town 
of that name in Jackson county, Iowa. 

The movements of the government against Canada and the 
combined forces of the British and Indians, wrought convic- 
tion in the sagacious mind of Governor Edwards, that should 
they be defeated (as was the case at the battle of the Thames.) 
the savages would retreat, and by marauding bands attack 
the settlements of Illinois and Missouri. His correspondence 
on this subject with the War Department was frequent and 
voluminous. Our limited space will allow only a passing no- 
tice of the fact. 

Early in August, one man was killed and another wounded 
in a field near " Stout's fort," on the Cuivre, in St. Charles 
county. The scattered settlements, through what is now Lin- 
coln and the South-Eastern part of Pike counties, were often 
harrassed with small scouting parties of Indians, in 1813. — 
On the 15th of the same month, a party of sixteen picked 
men from the company of rangers, under the command of 
Captain Nathan Boone, were attacked late at light, between 
the Illinois and ^Mississippi rivers, by a party of forty or fifty 
Indians. Captain Boone formed his men back from the fires, 
and, as they expected, the Indians rushed on the camping 
ground. Unfortunately, owing to a recent rain, the guns of 
the party were wet, did but poor execution, and they were 
obliged to retreat. One of the party received a slight wound 
in the I. and. This party had been sent out by General How- 
ard as spies. 

During the campaign in the summer and autumn of 1813, 
all the companies of rangers from Illinois and Missouri were 
under the command of General Howard. Large parties of 
hostile Indians were known to have collected about Peoria, 
and scouting parlies traversed the district between the Illinois 
and Mississippi rivers, then an entire wilderness. 

It was from these marauding parties that the frontier settle- 
ments of Illinois and Missouri, were harrassed. It became an 
object of no small importance, to penetrate the country over 



Appendix. 739 

which they ranged, and establish a fort at Peoria, and thus 
drive them to the northern wilderness. Our authorities for the 
incidents of the cannpaign, is a long letter from the honorable 
John Reynolds, who was anon-commissioned officer in a com- 
pany of spies; and the "Missouri Gazette," of November 
6th. The rendezvous for the Illinois regiment was " Camp 
Russell," two miles north of Edwardsville. The whole party 
when collected, made up of the rangers, volunteers and mili- 
tia, amounted to about fourteen hundred men, under the com- 
mand of Gen. Howard. Robert Wash, Esq., and Dr. Walk- 
er, of St. Louis, were of his staff". Colonels Benjamin Ste- 
phenson, then of Randolph county, Illinois, and Alexander 
McNair, of St. Louis, commanded the regiments. VV. B. 
Whiteside and John Moredock, of Illinois, were Majors in the 
second regiment, and William Christy and Nathan Boone fill- 
ed the same office in the first, or Missouri regiment. A Major 
Desha, a United States officer from Tennessee, was in the 
army, but what post he occupied we do not learn. Colonel 
E. B. Clemson, of the United States Army, was Inspector. — 
Governor Reynolds states, there were some United States 
rangers from Kentucky, and a company from Yincennes. We 
have no means of ascertaining the names of all the subaltern 
officers. We know that Samuel Whiteside, Joseph Phillips, 
Nathaniel Journey and Samuel Judy, were Captains in the 
Illinois companies. 

The Illinois regiment lay encamped on the Plasau, opposite 
Portage de Sioux, waiting for more troops, for three or four 
weeks. They then commenced the march, and swam their 
horses over the Illinois river, about two miles above the mouth. 
On the high ground in Calhoun county, they had a skirmish 
with a party of Indians. The Missouri troops, with General 
Howard, crossed the Mississippi from Fort Mason, and form- 
ed a junction with the Illinois troops. The baggage and men 
were transported in canoes, and the horses swam the river. 

The army marched for a number of days along the JMissis- 
sippi bottom. On or near the site of Quincy, was a large 
Sac village, and an encampment, that must have contained a 
thousand warriors. It appeared to have been deserted but a 
short period. 

The army continued its march near the Mississippi, some 
distance above the Lower Rapids, and then struck across the 



740 General Howard^s Expedition. 

prairies for the Illinois river, which they reached below the 
mouth of Spoon river, and marched to Peoria village. Here 
was a small stockade, commanded by Colonel Nicholas of the 
United States Army. Two days previous, the Indians had 
made an attack on the fort, and were repulsed. The army, 
on its march from the Mississippi to the Illinois river, found 
numerous fresh trails, all passing northward, which indicated 
that the savages were fleeing in that direction. 

Next morning the General marched his troops to the Sen- 
atchwine, a short distance above the head of Peoria Lake, 
where was an old Indian village, called Gomo's village. — 
Here they found the enemy had taken water and ascended the 
Illinois. This, and two other villages, were burnt. Finding 
no enemy to fight, the army was marched back to Peoria, to 
assist the regular troops in buildmg Fort Clark, so denomina- 
ted in memory of the old hero of 1778; and Major Christy, 
with a party, was ordered to ascend the river with two keel 
boats, duly armed and protected, to the foot of the rapids, and 
break up any Indian establishments that might be in that quar- 
ter. Major Boone, with a detachment, was dispatched to 
scour the country on Spoon river, in the direction of Rock 
River. 

The rangers and militia passed to the east side of the Illi- 
nois, cut timber, which they hauled on truck-wheels by drag 
ropes to the lake, and rafted it across. The fort was erected 
by the regular troops under Captain Phillips. In preparing 
the timber, the rangers and militia were engaged about two 
weeks. 

Major Christy and the l)oats returned from the Rapids with- 
out any discovery, except additional proofs of the alarm and 
fright of the enemy, and Major Boone returned with his force 
with the same observations. 

It was the plan of General Howard to return by a tour 
through the Rock River valley, but the cold weather set in un- 
usually early. By the middle of October it was intensely cold, 
the troops had no clothing for a winter campaign, and their 
horses would, in all probability, fail ; the Indians had evident- 
ly fled a long distance in the interior, so that, all things con- 
sidered, he resolved to return the direct route to Camp Rus- 
sell, where the militia and volunteers were disbanded on the 
22nd of October. Supplies of provisions, and munitions of 



Appendix. 741 

war had been sent to Peoria, in boats, which had reached 
there a few days previous to the army. 

It may seem to those, who delight in tales of fighting and 
bloodshed, that this expedition was a very insignificant affair. 
Very few Indians were killed, very little fighting done, but one 
or two of the army were lost, and yet as a means of protect- 
ing the frontier settlements of these territories, it was most 
efficient, and gave at least six months quiet to the people. — 
After this, Indians shook their heads and said " White men 
like the leaves in the forest, — like the grass in the prairies, — 
they grow every where." 

SECTION THIRD. 
Campaign of 1814. 

The first act of hostilities we find on record for 1814, is an 
attack on a party of surveyors in the vicinity of the United 
States Saline, in Saline county, Illinois, when Major Nelson 
Rector was severely wounded. His left arm was broken, a 
ball entered his left side, below the collar bone, and another 
cut the skin on the right side of his head. The Indians were 
concealed under the bank of a creek. This was on the first 
of March. 

Two brothers, by name of Eastwood, were trapping for bea- 
ver on the head waters of the Gasconade and White rivers, 
when they were attacked by a party of Osages, who after- 
wards said they mistook them for southern Indians, with whom 
they were at war. They killed one brother, and the other 
made his escape. The Osage nation professed to be friendly 
to the United States. Subsequently, on the 27th of May, 
Pierre Chouteau, Esq., agent for the Osages, arrived in St. 
Louis, with several chiefs, with three Osages as prisoners, 
who had been given up as the murderers. 

About the first of May, Governor Clark fitted out five bar- 
ges, with fifty regular troops and one hundred and forty vol- 
unteers, and left St. Louis on an expedition to Prairie du 
Chien. On the 13th of June, Governor Clark, with several 
gentlemen who accompanied him, returned with one of the 
barges, having left the officers and troops to erect a fort and 
maintain the position. 

No Indians molested the party till they reached Rock river, 



742 Battle at Prairie du Chien. 

where they had a skirmish with some hostile Sauks. The 
Foxes resided at Dubuque, and professed to be peaceable, and 
promised to fight on the American side. 

Twenty days before the expedition reached Prairie du 
Chien, the British trader, Dickson, left that place for Macki- 
nac, with eighty Winnebagoes, one hundred and twenty Folls- 
avoine, and one hundred Sioux, probably as recruits for the 
British army along the lake country. He had gained infor- 
mation of the expedition of Governor Clark from his Indian 
spies, and had left Captain Deace with a body of Mackinac 
fencibles, with orders to protect the place. The Sioux and 
Renards, (Foxes,) having refused to fight the Americans, 
Deace and his soldiers fled. The inhabitants also fled into 
the country, but returned as soon as they learned they were 
not to be injured. A temporary defence was immediately 
erected. Lieutenant Perkins, with sixty rank and file from 
Major Z. Taylor's company of the 7th regiment, took posses- 
sion of the house occupied by the Mackinac Fur Company, in 
which they found nine or ten trunks of Dickson's property, 
with his papers and correspondence. A writer in the "Ga- 
zette'' says: — 

"The farms of Prairie du Chien are in high cultivation ; be- 
tween two and three hundred barrels of flour may be manu- 
factured there this season, besides a vast quantity of corn. 

Two of the largest boats were left in command of Aid-de- 
camp Kennerly, and Captains Sullivan and Yeizer, whose 
united forces amount to one hundred and thirty-five men. 
The regulars under command of Lieutenant Perkins, are sta- 
tioned on shore, and are assisted by the volunteers in building 
the new fort." 

This was called Fort Shelby. On his return, the people of 
St. Louis gave the Governor a public dinner, and expressed 
their heart}' gratulations for the success of the enterprize. 

About the last of June, Captain John Sullivan, with his 
company of militia, and some volunteers whose term of ser- 
vice had expired, returned from Prairie du Chien, and report- 
ed that the fort was finished, the boats well manned and bar- 
ricaded ; that the Indians were hovering around, and had 
taken prisoner a Frenchman while hunting his horses. The 
boats employed, carried a six pounder on their main deck, and 
several howitzers on the quarters and gangway. The men 
were protected by a musket-proof barricade. 



Appendix. 743 

On the 6th of August, the Gazette, (our authority in these 
details,) states : — 

"Just as we had put our paper to press, Lieutenant Perkins, 
with the troops which composed the garrison at Prairie du 
Chien, arrived here. Lieutenant Perkins fought the conibined 
force of British and Indians three days and nights, until they 
approached the pickets by mining ; provisions, ammunition 
and water expended, when he capitulated. The officers to 
keep their private property, and the whole not to serve until 
duly exchanged. Five of our troops were wounded durin" 
the siege." 

In a letter from Captain Yeizer, to Governor Clark, dated, 
St. Louis, July 28th, 1814, we find the following facts. Cap- 
tain Y. commanded one of the gun-boats, a keel-boat fitted 
up in the manner heretofore described. On the 17th July, at 
half past one o'clock, from twelve to fifteen hundred British 
and Indians, marched up in full view of the fort and the town 
and demanded a surrender, "which demand was positively re- 
fused." They attacked Mr. Yeizer's boat at three o'clock, at 
long-shot distance. He returned the compliment by firing 
round-shot from his six pounder, which made them change 
their position to a small mound nearer the boat. At the same 
time the Indians were firing from behind the houses and 
pickets. The Boat then moved up the river to the head of the 
village; keeping up a constant discharge of firearms and ar- 
tillery, which was answered by the enemy from the shore. 
The enemy's boats then crossed the river below, to attack the 
Americans from the opposite side of the river. A gallino- 
fire from opposite points was now kept up by the enemy, on 
this boat, until the only alternative was left for Captain Yei- 
zer to run the boat through the the enemy's lines to a point 
five miles below; keeping up a brisk fire. 

In the meantime, another gun-boat that lay on shore, was 
fired on until it took fire and was burnt. In Captain Yeizer's 
boat, two officers and four privates were wounded, and one 
private killed. 

The British and Indians were commanded by Colonel Mc- 
Cay, (or Mackey,) who came in boats from Mackinac, by Green 
Bay and the Wisconsin, with artillery. Their report gives 
from one hundred and sixty to two hundred regulars, and "Mi- 
chigan fencibles," and about eight hundred Indians. They 
landed their artillery below the town and fort, and formed a 



744 Baltic at Rock hland. 

battery; attacking the forts and the boats at the same time. — 
After Captain Yeizer's boat had been driven from its anchor- 
age, sappers and miners began operations in the bank, one 
hundred and fifty yards from the fort. Lieutenant Perkins 
held out while hope lasted. In the fort were George and 
James Kennerly, the former an aid to Governor Clark ; the 
latter a Lieutenant in the militia. 

During this season strenuous efforts were made by the small 
force at command, to plant forts along the Upper Mississippi. 
Cape au Gris, (Cap au Grey) an old French hamlet on the left 
bank of the Mississippi, a few miles above the mouth of the 
Illinois river, was the place of rendezvous. Armed boats, al- 
ready described, the means of transportation. 

Among the persons in command were brevet Major Zacha- 
ry Taylor, (President of the United States, in 1850,) and Cap- 
tain Campbell, of the United States regular army. Among 
the commanders of companies, or of boats, we find the nan.es 
of Captain Whiteside and N. Rector. 

A detachment, under command of Major Taylor, left Cape 
au Gris on the 23d of August, in boats, for the Indian town at 
Rock River. The detachment consisted of three hundred and 
thirty-four effective men, officers, non-commissioned officers 
and privates, A report from the commanding ofTicer to Gen- 
eral Howard, dated from Fort INladi.'-on, September 6th, and 
published in the "Missouri Gazette" of the 17th, gives the de- 
tails of the expedition. They met with no opposition until 
they reached Rock Island, where Indian villages were situa- 
ted on both sides of the river, above and below the Rapids. — 
The object was to destroy these villages and the fields of corn. 
They continued up the rapids to Campbell's Island, so named 
from the commander of one of the boats ; so named from some 
hard fighting his detachment had with .some of the Indians. — 
The policy of the commanding officer was to commence with 
the upper villages, and sweep both sides of the river. But 
the policy was interrupted by a party of British, and more 
than a thousand Indians, with a six and a three pounder, 
brought from Prairie du Chicn. Captains Whiteside and 
Rector, and the men under their charge, with Lieutenant Ed- 
ward Hempstead, who commanded a boat, fought the enemy 
bravely for several hours as they descended the Rapids. The 
danger consisted in the enemy's .shot sinking the boats, and 



Appendix. 745 

they were compelled to fall down below the rapids to repair 
the boats. 

"I then called the officers*together, and put to them the fol- 
lowing question: 'Are we able, 334 effective men, to fight the 
enemy, with any prospect of success and effect, which is to 
destroy their villages and corn ?' They were of opinion the 
enemy was at least three men to one, and that it was not 
practicable to effect either object. I then determined to drop 
down the river to the Desmoines, without delay, as some of 
the officers of the rangers informed me their men were short 
of provisions, and execute the principal object of the expedi- 
tion in erecting a fort to command the river. * * * 

"In the affair at Rock river, 1 had eleven men badly wound- 
ed, three mortally, of whom one has since died. 

"I am much indebted to the officers for their prompt obedi- 
ence to orders, nor do I believe a braver set of men could 
have been collected than those who compose this detach- 
ment. But, Sir, I conceive it would have been madness in me, 
as well as in direct violation of my orders, to have risked the 
detachment without a prospect of success. 

"I believe I would have been fully able to have accom- 
plished your views, if the enemy had not been supplied with 
artillery, and so advantageously posted, as to render it impos- 
sible for us to have dislodged him, without imminent danger 
of the loss of the whole detachment." 

Fort Johnston, a rough stockade with block-houses of round 
logs, was then erected on the present site of the town of War- 
saw, opposite the mouth of the Desmoines. 

On the 18th of September, General Benjamin Howard, 
whose military district extended from the interior of Indiana 
to the frontier of Mexico, died in St. Louis, after a short, but 
painful illness. He was a native of Virginia, removed with 
his father to Kentucky at an early period, and was engage 
in the defence of the frontiers before the treaty of Greenville. 
After that period, he commenced the study of the law, and ia^ 
the course of a few years, was ranked among the ablest men of 
his profession, when he was appointed to a seat on the bench. 

About 1806, or 1807, he was elected to Congress from the 
Lexington district, and was in Congress when he was ap- 
pointed Governor of Missouri Territory, as the successor of 
Governor Lewis. An interesting biographical sketch is to be 
found in the Missouri Gazette, of October 1st. We have also 
a letter from the venerable David Todd, of Columbia, Mis- 
souri, giving a sketch of his family connections, character and 
47 



746 Death of General Howard. 

personal appearance, for which we have not room in this 
section. 

Fort Madison, after sustaining repeated attacks from the 
Indians, was evacuated and burnt. And in the month of Oc- 
tober, the people of St. Louis were astounded with the intelli- 
gence, that the troops stationed in Fort Johnston, had burnt 
the block-houses, destroyed the works, and retreated down the 
river to Cape au Gres. The officer in command, (Major Tay- 
lor having previously left that post,) reported they were out of 
provisions and could not sustain the position. It should be 
here noticed, that the defeat of the Indians in the battle of the 
Thames, drove back a large force of hostile savages to the 
Mississippi. 

Colonel Russell, who had been in a bad state of health, ar- 
rived in St. Louis on the 8th of October, and soon after held a 
conference with Governors Clark and Edwards on measures 
for the future defence of the two territories. 

Two rangers were killed by Indians near Cape au Gres, and 
four more in a skirmish not far from Vincennes. 

On the 5th of August, Mr. Henry Cox and his sons, while 
at work on his farm near Shoal creek, Illinois, were attacked by 
a party of Indians, one of his sons was killed and shockingly 
mangled, (so says the Gazette,) and another taken prisoner. 

Early in July, a party of Indians entered the Wood river 
settlement, (five miles east of Alton city,) and massacred a 
Mrs. Reagan and her two children, after night-fall, as they 
were returning home from her brother's house, the late Mr. 
Moore. The husband and father, supposing they had tarried 
at their relations, was awakened in the morning by a company 
of rangers, with the distressing intelligence of the massacre 
of his wife and children, whose mangled remains were but a 
few rods from the house. 

Captain (now General) Samuel Whiteside, with fifty ran- 
gers, was on their trail at an early hour, pursued them to the 
Sangamon river, where they discovered the party just as they 
entered a dense thicket in the river bottom, by which all esca- 
ped but the leader, in whose possession they found the scalp 
of Mrs. Reagan. 

The only incident we find to complete this section, is the 
adventure of the heroic Thomas Higgins. lie was a native 
of Kentucky, and joined the rangers of Illinois at their first 



Appendix. 747 

organization, and continued by annual enlistments until dis- 
abled. 

A frontier settlement on Shoal creek, in the present county 
of Bond, had a "station," or block-house, about eight miles 
south of the present site of Greenville. It was one of the 
points of rendezvous for the rangers, where Lieutenant Jour- 
ney and eleven men, including Higgins, were stationed. 

On the 20th of August, 1814, Indian signs were discovered 
in the vicinity ; and at night a party was seen prowling about 
the fort. Before day-light on the 31st, Lieutenant Journey 
and his command were on their trail. They had not proceed- 
ed far on the border of the prairie, before they were in an 
ambuscade, surrounded with seventy or eighty Indians ; and 
at the first fire, the Lieutenant and three men were killed. — 
Six fled to the fort, while Higgins remained on the field, as he 
said " to have one more pull at the enemy." His horse had 
been shot in the neck, fell on his knees; but rose again in a 
moment. Higgins thought his horse mortally wounded, dis- 
mounted, and resolving to avenge the loss of his comrades, 
took to a tree. The fog of the early dawn, and the smoke of 
the Indian guns, which had obscured the atmosphere, now 
cleared away, and he discovered the Indians. Taking delibe- 
rate aim, he fired, and the foremost savage fell. Concealed 
by the smoke, he reloaded his gun ; mounted his wounded 
horse and turned to retreat, when a familiar voice from the 
grass hailed him with "Tom, you wont leave me?''' Turning 
around, he saw a fellow soldier by the name of Burgess, lying 
in the grass, wounded and helpless. " Come along," said Hig- 
gins. " I can't come," responded Burgess, " my leg is smash- 
ed to pieces." Higgins instantly dismounted, and in attempt- 
ing to lift his friend on the horse, the animal took fright, ran 
off and left Higgins with the wounded man. He directed him 
to crawl on one leg and hands through the tallest grass, while 
he remained behind to protect him from the Indians. In this 
way Burgess reached the fort. Higgins could best have fol- 
lowed the same trail, but this would endanger his comrade. — 
He therefore took another direction, concealing himself by a 
small thicket. As he passed it, he discovered a stout savage 
near b}'', and two others approaching. He started for a small 
ravine, but found one of his legs fail, which, until now, he 
was scarcely conscious had been wounded in the first rencon- 



748 Adventure of Thomas Higgins. 

tre. The large Indian pressed him close, and Higgins, know- 
ing the advantage, resolved to halt and dodge the ball. The 
Indian poised his gun, and Higgins, turning suddenly, received 
the ball in his thigh. He now fell, rose again ; and received 
the fire of the others; and again fell, severely wounded. The 
Indians now threw aside their guns and advanced on him with 
their spears and knives. As he presented his gun first at one, 
then at the other, each fell back. At last the stout Indian who 
had fired first, supposing Higgins' gun empty, advanced boldly 
to the charge, when Higgins fired, and he fell. 

Higgins had now four bullets in his body, — an empty gun 
in his hand — two Indians unharmed before him : and a large 
party but a short distance in the ravine. Still he did not des- 
pair. His two assailants now raised the war-whoop, rushed 
on him with their spears, and a deadly conflict ensued. They 
gave him numerous flesh wounds, as the scars we have seen 
testified. At last one threw his tomahawk, which struck Hig- 
gins on his cheek, severed his ear, laid bare his skull to the 
back of his head, and stretched him on the prairie. Again the 
Indians rushed on, but Higgins kept them off with his feet, and 
grasping one of their spears, he arose, seized his rifle and 
dashed out the brains of his antagonist, but broke his rifle. — 
The other Indian now raised the yell, and rushed on him and 
attempted to stab the exhausted ranger with his knife. Hig- 
gins still fought with his broken rifle ; then with his knife ; 
both were bleeding, and nearly exhausted. 

The smoke had cleared away; the party of Indians were in 
view ; and the little garrison at the fort could see the contest, 
but dared not sally out. There was a woman, — a jNIrs. Pur- 
sley, — at this crisis urged the rangers to the rescue. They 
objected, — she taunted them with cowardice, — snatched her 
husband's rifle from his hand, declared that *' so fine a fellow 
as Tom Higgins, should not be lost for want of help"; mount- 
ed a horse, and sallied forth to his rescue. The men, asham- 
ed to be outdone by a woman, followed at full gallop, — reach- 
ed the spot where Higgins had fainted and fell, before the In- 
dians came up, and brought off the wounded ranger to the 
fort. For many days his life was despaired of; there was no 
surgeon ; some of his friends cut out two balls from his body ; 
but by careful nursing he recovered. Another ball was ex- 
tracted from his thigh, by his own hands and razor, some years 



Appendix. 749 

after. He was a fine specimen of a frontier man, open heart- 
ed, generous; and livxd, and died, a few years since in Fay- 
ette county. 

Postscript. — We have discovered — too late to correct the er- 
ror in the text — a mistake in connecting the battle at the Up- 
per Rapids, by Major Taylor, and a similar action at the same 
place by Lieutenant Campbell. 

Soon after the return of Governor Clark from Prairie du 
Chien, it was thought expedient by General Howard, (who 
had just returned from Kentucky,) to send up a force to relieve 
the volunteer troops, and strengthen that remote post. He 
therefore sent Lieutenant Campbell, (who was acting as bri- 
gade Major) and three keel boats, with 42 regulars, and 66 
rangers ; and including the sutler's establishment, boatmen 
and women, making 133 persons. They reached Rock River 
without difficulty, but at the foot of the rapids, they were 
visited by large numbers of Sauks and Foxes, pretending to 
be friendly, and some of them bearing letters from the garri- 
son above to St. Louis. In a short time the contractors and 
sutler's boats had reached the head of the rapids; the two 
barges with the rangers followed, and were about two miles 
ahead of the commander's barge. Here a gale of wind arose 
and the barge drifted against the little Island, known as Camp- 
bell's Island. Here he thought proper to lie by until the wind 
abated ; sentries were stationed at proper distances, and the 
men were on the Island shore cooking, when the report of sev- 
eral guns announced the attack. 

The savages were seen on shore in quick motion ; canoes 
filled with Indians passed to the Island ; and in a few mo- 
ments they found themselves nearly surrounded with five or 
six hundred Indians, who gave the war-whoop and poured 
upon them a galling fire. The barges ahead, commanded by 
Captains Rector and Riggs, attempted to return, but one got 
stranded on the rapids; the other, to prevent a similar disas- 
ter, let go an anchor. The rangers from both these barges 
opened a brisk fire on the Indians. The unequal contest was 
kept up for more than an hour; the Indians firing from the 
Island and the shore under cover, when the commander's 
barge took fire. Captain Rector cut his cable, fell to wind- 
ward, and took out the survivors. Captain Riggs soon after 
followed with his barge, and all returned to St. Louis. 



760 Settlement of Boone^s Lick. 

There were three regulars, four rangers, one woman and 
one child, killed and mortally wounded; and sixteen wounded; 
among whom was Major Campbell and Dr. Stewart, severely. 
(Gazette, July 30th, 1814.) 

SECTION FOUR. 
Tht Boont^s Lick Settlements. 

The country above the Cedar, a small stream on the west- 
ern border of Callaway county, which was regarded as the 
boundary of the district (afterwards the county) of St. Charles, 
was called " Boone's Lick,''' from its first settlement until the 
organization of the State Government. 

Cote Sans Dessein, (from a singular oblong hill in the bot- 
tom near) was a hamlet, or small village of French settlers, 
as early as 1808. In 1810, (perhaps a few in 1809) many en- 
terprizing persons with their families, struck into the wilder- 
ness and commenced settlements, in what is now the county 
of Howard. Here were several large salt springs and "licks," 
at one of which the old pioneer had his hunting camp in the 
olden time, and where his son, Major Nathan Boone, made 
salt about 1807. This gave name to the *' lick," and that to 
a large district of country. As the formation of this settle- 
ment and the " Incidents of the war," which is the subject of 
this chapter, are in direct connection, we shall group them 
together in this section. 

About twelve families, in 1810, settled on the south side of 
the Missouri. They were from the Loutre settlement. Mrs. 
Cole and family, whose husband was killed by the Indians, 
settled at the lower point of the bluff, adjacent to Booneville, 
in 1811. [Appendix, p. 728.] 

The Boone's Lick settlement, at the commencement of the 
war with Great Britain, numbered about one hundred and 
fifty families. The Governor of the territory considered them 
beyond the organized jurisdiction of any county, and for about 
four years the only authority over them was patriarchal. — 
The state of society was orderly, and the habits of the people 
virtuous. Several ministers of the gospel were among the 
immigrants. The force of public sentiment and the good 
sense of the people regulated society. 

For several years, a party of the Sauk Indians,under Quash- 



Appendix. 751 

quamme, their chief, lived on the Moniteau, south of the Mis- 
souri. They professed to be friendly, but, as is customary with 
all uncivilized Indians, very probably they stole horses, and 
committed other depredations. And it is a general custom 
for hostile parties in their marauding excursions, to lay the 
mischief they commit to those who keep the peace. After 
the war this band of Sauks were ordered off. They went to 
Grand river, and from thence to the mouth of Rock river, and 
joined the other branch of the Sauk nation. 

On the Petite Osage plains, in what is now Saline county, 
were a large party of Miami Indians. Their village, built of 
poles, was a short distance from the Missouri river. They 
are accused of committing many depredations, and some mur- 
ders, which, probably, was the work of hostile Indians. 

The Pottawatomies were the principal depredators in the 
Boone's Lick country, during the war. They stole nearly or 
quite three hundred horses from the settlements. The Foxes, 
lowas and Kickapoos, carried the war into this frontier. For 
two years, the gallant settlers, unaided by any government, 
sustained the conflict and defended their families with daunt- 
less heroism. Every man, and every boy that could load a 
rifle, was a soldier, and enrolled himself in one of the volun- 
teer companies. By common consent. Colonel Benjamin 
Cooper was Commander-in-Chief. Colonel Cooper had been 
identified with the early operations in Kentucky, and possess- 
ed those elements of character, that eminently qualified him 
for a leader and adviser. 

Amongst the subalterns, we recollect the names of Sarshall 
Cooper, (son of the Colonel,) Wm. Head, and Stephen Cole ; 
regretting the names of others, equally deserving notice, are 
unknown to the writer. 

(We find the name Braxton given to this gentleman in sev- 
eral documents, and infer that his name was Sarshall Braxton 
Cooper.) 

The people erected five stockade forts for their defence. — 
Mr. McLain's fort, afterwards called Fort Hempstead, about 
one mile from the present site of New Franklin ; Cooper's 
Fort, in the bottom prairie, near the old Boone's Lick: Kin- 
caid's fort, a mile above the site of old Franklin, near the riv- 
er ; Head's fort, on the Moniteau, near the old Boone's Lick 
trace from St. Charles ; and Cole's fort south of the Missouri, 



752 Boone's Lick Settlement. 

a mile below Booneville. As dangers thickened, the people 
in this fort moved temporarily across the Missouri. The fami- 
lies, when danger was apprehended, resided in these stock- 
ades, but the citizen soldiers, besides ranging in advance of 
the forts after the enemy, had to hunt game for provisions, 
and cultivate the land for corn. As much of their stock was 
killed or driven off by the early incursions of the enemy, the 
terms "bear-bacon," and "hog-meat," were inserted in con- 
tracts for provisions in those days.* 

Large enclosures near the forts were occupied for corn- 
fields, in common ; and frequently sentinels stood on the bor- 
ders of the field, while their neighbors turned the furrow. — 
Skirmishes with parties of Indians were frequent. 

If they threatened the fort while the detachments were in 
the corn-field, or on the hunting range, the sound of the horn 
was the rallying signal. 

Among the persons killed at different periods, and various 
points, we can record the names of Sarshall Cooper, Jonathan 
Todd, William Campbell, Thomas Smith, Samuel jMcMahan, 
William Gregg, John Smith, James Busby, Joseph W. Still, 
and a negro man. 

Our authority for this and several other particulars, is Sam- 
uel Cole, son of W. T. Cole ; — memoranda taken from the 
statements of many of the pioneers in the Boone's Lick coun- 
try by the writer, in 1818; — Wetmore's Gazetteer; — and the 
files of the Missouri Gazette. 

Of the murders committed, none excited so deep a feeling, 
as the tragic end of Captain Sarshall Cooper, who was killed 
at his own fire-side in Cooper's fort. It was on a dark and 
stormy night, when the winds howled through the adjacent 
forest, that a single warrior crept to the wall of Captain Coop- 
er's cabin, which formed one side of the fort, and made an 
opening between the logs, barely sufiicientto admit the muz- 
zle of his gun, which he discharged with fatal effect. Captain 
Cooper was sitting by the fire, holding his youngest child in his 
arms, which escaped unhurt ; his other children lounging 
on the cabin floor, and his wife engaged in domestic duties. 
A single crack of the rifle was heard, and Cooper was stretch- 
ed on the floor ! His prowess was well known to the Indians; 
his 'skill and bravery had often foiled the wily and treacher- 

• Wetmoro'8 Gazetteer, p. 82. 



Appendix. 763 

ous savages. He is remembered to this day by the early pio- 
neers of Missouri for his heroic and manly virtues, as he is 
for his philanthropy and other moral qualities. 

Captain Stephen Cole survived the war, after making 
every effort for the defence of the settlement, when, just about 
the period of prosperity, and the increase and value of lands 
and other property invited repose and contentment, his love 
of wild adventure, in 1822, induced him to become a pioneer 
in the trade to Santa Fe. He was killed by the red skins on 
the plains. 

Colonel Cooper attained to a green old age. He was a 
member of the Territorial Council, much respected by all 
classes, and died about 1840. 

After about two years of hard fighting, "on their own hook," 
to use a western figure, application was made to the Governor, 
and a detachment of rangers under General Henry Dodge 
was sent to their relief The mounted men, (rangers) inclu- 
ded the companies of Captain John Thompson, of St. Louis, 
Captain Daugherty of Cape Girardeau, and Captain Cooper 
of the Boone's Lick settlement, with fifty Shavvanese and 
Delaware Indians; the whole amounting to three hundred men, 

They marched to the village of the Miamies, took about 
four hundred men, women and children prisoners, and sent 
them to their nation on the Wabash. 

In connection, an expedition ascended the JMissouri river, 
under command of Captain Edward Hempstead. 

In the spring of 1813, a party of Sauks and Pottawatomies 
made an attack on Loutre Lick, and killed a young man by 
the name of Massey, while ploughing in the field. 

Early in 1814, the Sauks and Foxes stole horses in the 
neighborhood of Loutre Island. Fifteen or twenty rangers 
commanded by Captain James Callaway, being out on a tour 
of observation, accidentally fell on their trail, and followed it. 
They overtook the Indians in camp near the head of the 
Loutre creek, and found the horses, but the Indians appa- 
rently, had fled. They retook the horses, and proceeded to- 
wards the settlements, until they reached Prairie fork. Here 
the Captain, desirous of relieving the men who had charge of 
the horses in the rear, gave the command to Lieut. Riggs, 
who went on with the main party. In a short time. Captain 
Callaway and the men who had charge of the horses, were 



754 Sketches of Missouri Territory. 

fired on by a large party of Indians who lay in ambuscade, 
and was severely wounded. He broke the line of the Indians, 
while men and horses fled, rode towards the main Loutre, 
where he was intercepted by the Indians, and being mortally 
wounded, fell from his horse into the stream as he attempted 
to swim it, and expired. Four rangers in his party were 
killed. Their names were, McDermot, Hutchinson, McMil- 
lan, and Gilmnre. The latter was taken prisoner and subse- 
(juently killed. 

At the village of Cote Sans Dessein, the French and others 
erected a block-house and pallisade enclosure, to protect the 
families. The principal person in command, was a resolute 
Frenchman by the name of Baptiste Louis Roy. The fort 
was assailed by a large party of Indians when only two men 
besides Captain Hoy, with many women and children, were in 
it. The women cast bullets, cut patches, loaded rifles, and 
furnished refreshments, while Roy and his two soldiers defend- 
ed the post, until fourteen braves were numbered as slain. 
The Indians attempted to set the house on lire by shooting ar- 
rows armed with combustible materials, but the resolute 
women put out the fire. The defence proved succesful, and 
M. Roy, at a period subsequent to the war, received a costly 
rifle from the young men at St. Louis for his gallant behavior.* 

* Wetmore's Gazetteer, pp. 47, 50. Also 125, 126. 



CHAPTER IV. 
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. 

SECTION FIRST. 

Sketches of Misaonri Territory. 

We shall commence these sketches by gleaning such inci- 
dents as have been omitted. One of these is the location and 
settlement of New Madrid. This town was projected as a 
large commercial city, in 17S7, by Col. G. Morgan, from New 
Jersey. A little French village was commenced at an earlier 



Appendix. 755 

period, and called Vanse a la Gresse. Stoddard says : "In 
consequence of some obstacles to his designs, created by the 
Spanish Government, he abandoned his project, and retired 
from the country.* 

In 1779, it is said to have contained 800 inhabitants, and to 
have been in a flourishing condition. We think this estimate 
included the village and settlement of Little Prairie, some 
thirty miles below, which at that period, contained about 400 
inhabitants. 

The act of Congress, passed October 31st, 1803, authorized 
the President to take possession of the Territories ceded by 
France to the United States, and establish a temporary gov- 
ernment therein. [Annals, 537.] 

An act passed March 26, 1804, organizing the Territory of 
Orleans, and making "the residue of the country, the district 
of Louisiana," and placing it under the jurisdiction of the 
Governor and Judges of Indiana. It so continued until 
March 3d, 1805, when an act was passed, organizing the "Ter- 
ritory of Louisiana," under the jurisdiction of a Governor, 
Judges and Secretary. General James Wilkinson was ap- 
pointed Governor, and Frederick Bates, Esq., Secretary, who 
frequently officiated as acting Governor. He continued in the 
office by reappointments until the territorial government was 
suspended by that of the State. 

The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clark, is noticed al- 
ready. [Annals, 552.] It was not long after their return that 
Captain Meriwether Lewis received the appointment of Gov- 
ernor of the Territory of Louisiana; and Captain Wm. Clark 
(a little later, we think,) the appointment of Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs. The territorial records having been consum- 
ed with the State House at Jefferson City, in 1837, we cannot 
be certain of accuracy in dates. 

On the 20th of August, 1808, we find in the " Gazette," the 
proclamation of Governor Lewis, organizing the " District of 
Arkansas." At that period, counties were denominated dis- 
tricts. 

It was no minor event in the annals of Missouri, that the 
printing press and weekly paper west of the Mississippi riv- 
er, was introduced and established in St. Louis, in 1808, by 
the late Joseph Charless. Its earliest issues were on cap pa- 

* Stoddard's Sketches, p. 209. 



756 Second Grade of Government. 

per; the first number is dated in July, 1808. Mr. Charless 
w^as a native of Ireland. For a time, he was in an office in 
Philadelphia, then in Lexington, Ky., where he published a 
paper. The name of the paper at St. Louis, was changed 
with that of the territory. It was first called the " Louisiana 
Gazette," then the "Missouri Gazette," and finally, in 1822, 
in other hands, it took the name of the " Missouri Republi- 
can." The files of this paper, in size and typographical ap- 
pearance, would furnish an illustration of the growth and 
progress of the city and the tei-ritory. 

During the spring or summer of 1809, Governor Lewis de- 
parted for New Orleans, and thence to Washington City. — 
While passing through the Chickasaw country, he discovered 
great aberration of mind, and shot himself with a brace of pis- 
tols in the night, at the house where he tarried. We give the 
following sketch from Howe's Virginia, Albermarle county, 
page 171. 

" Meriwether Lewis, the son of a wealthy planter, was 
born near Charlottesville, in 1774. At 18 years of age, he 
relinquished his academic studies and engaged in agriculture. 
Two years after, he acted as a volunteer, to suppress the 
whisky insurrection, from which situation he was removed to 
the regular service. From about 1801 to 1803, he was the 
private secretary of Mr. Jefferson, when he, with Wm. Clark, 
went on their celebrated exploring expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains. Mr. Jefferson, in recommending him to this duty, 
gave him a high ciiaracter, as possessing courage, inflexible 
perseverance, intimate knowledge of the Indian character, and 
fidelity, intelligence, and all those peculiar combinations of 
qualities that eminently fitted him for so arduous an under- 
taking. They were absent three years, and were highly suc- 
cessful in the accomplishment of their duties. Shortly after 
his return, he was appointed Governor of the territory of 
Louisiana, and, finding it the seat of internal dissentions, he, 
by his moderation, firmness and impartiality, brought matters 
into a systematic train. He was subject to constitutional hyp- 
ochondria, and while under the influence of a severe attack, 
shot himself on the borders of Tennessee, in 1809, at the age 
of thirty-five. The event was ascribed to the protest of some 
bills, which he drew on the public account." 

The Commissioners to examine into and confirm claims to 
land by virtue of concessions and grants under the Spanish 
Government, were John B. C. Lucas, Clement 13. Penrose, and 



Appendix. 757 

James L. Donaldson. From the American State Papers, Pub- 
lic Lands, volume ii., we learn they commenced the duties of 
the office in 1806. In 1807, we find the name of Frederick 
Bates in place of J. L. Donaldson. Lucas, Penrose and Bates, 
continued to officiate until 1812, and probably a longer peri- 
od. The doubtful and conflicting titles, made the office both 
laborious and unpleasant. 

An act of Congress, approved June 4th, 1812, changed the 
name of the Territory of Louisiana to that of Missouri, and 
advanced it to the second grade of government. 

The " Council" consisted of nine members, elected in 
the same mode as was then customary in territorial organiza- 
tions. The Representatives, when elected by the people, were 
required to convene on the proclamation of the Governor, and 
nominate eighteen persons, residents of said territory one year 
preceding their nomination; each possessing, in his own right, 
two hundred acres of land therein ; and return their names to 
the President of the United States, who, with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, selected nine for the Legislative Coun- 
cil. The term of appointment was five years. 

The House of Representatives were apportioned at the ra- 
tio of one, for every five hundred free, white male inhabitants. 
Qualifications for this office, were one year's residence in the 
territory, twenty-one years of age, and a free-holder in the 
county. The term was two years, and the Legislature to sit 
annually, in the town of St. Louis. Thirteen Representatives 
were provided at the first election. 

Qualifications for suflrage were free, white male citizens of 
the United States, one year's residence in the territory, and 
the payment of a territorial, or county tax. A Delegate to 
Congress, to be chosen biennially. 

In 181G, the organic law was so modified, as to permit bi- 
ennial sessions of the Legislature. 

On the 1st day of October, Governor Howard, by proclama- 
tion, reorganized the districts, as heretofore called, into five 
counties ; St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girar- 
deau, and New Madrid. The distiict of Arkansas formed a 
portion of the county of New Madrid. The territorial gov- 
ernment passed into the second grade the first Monday in De- 
cember. The election for representatives to the legislature 



758 Territorial Legislation. 

and a delegate to congress, was ordered to be held on the 
second Monday in November. 

On the I8th of October, the names of Edward Hempstead, 
Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, and Matthew Lyon, were 
announced as candidates for the office of Delegate to con- 
gress. Edward Hempstead was the successful candidate, but 
we find no records of the polls to show how the other candi- 
dates stood. 

The House of Representatives commenced their first ses- 
sion on the 7th December, 1812. The following persons, as 
representatives of their respective counties, were present: 

St. Charles. — John Pitman, Robert Spencer. 

St. Louis. — David Musick, Bernard G. Farrar, ^Yilliam C. 
Carr, and Richard Caulk. 

Stc. Genevieve. — George Bullett, Richard S. Thomas, Isaac 
McGready. 

Cape Gil'ardedu. — George F. Bollinger, Stephen Byrd. 

New Madrid. — John Shrader, Samuel Phillips. 

The oath was administered by John B. C. Lucas, one of the 
Judges. William C. Carr was elected Speaker, and Thomas 
F. Riddick, Clerk, pro. tem. Andrew Scott was elected 
Clerk before the close of the session. 

The House of Representatives then proceeded to nominate 
eighteen persons, from which the President of the United 
States, with the Senate, was to select nine for the Council. 

James Flaugherty, and Benjamin Emmons, of St. Charles 
county ; — Auguste Chouteau, sen., and Samuel Hammond, of 
St. Louis county; — John Scott, James Maxwell, Nathaniel 
Cook, John M' Arthur, Moses Austin, John Smith, T., of Ste. 
Genevieve county; — William Neely, George Cavener, Abra- 
ham Boyd, John Davis, of Cape Girardeau county ; — Joseph 
Hunter, Elisha Winson, William Gray, William Winchester, 
of New Madrid county, were nominated. 

The President nominated, and the Senate confirmed, as 
members of the Territorial Council, James Flaugherty, Ben- 
jamin Emmons, Auguste Chouteau, sen., Samuel Hammond, 
John Scott, James Maxwell, William Necly, George Cavener, 
and Joseph Hunter, The acting Governor, Mr. Bates, made 
proclamation to that effect, on the 3J day of June, 1813, and 
appointed the first jMonday in July following, for the meeting 
of the General Assembly. 



Appendix. 759 

The Journal of the House of Representatives was published 
only in the Missouri Gazette. Before the called session ap- 
pointed to be held in July, William Clark entered upon the 
office of Governor. 

We find no journal of legislative proceedings in the Ga- 
zette for that session, except a friendly interchange between 
the Assembly and the new Governor. 

The Assembly passed laws regulating and establishing 
weights and measures ; — the office of Sheriff ; — mode of taking 
the census; — fixing permanently seats of justice in the coun- 
ties; — compensation to members of the Assembly; — crimes 
and punishments ; — forcible entry and detainer ; — establishing 
courts of common pleas; — Incorporating the Bank of St. 
Louis; — and erecting the county of Washington from a part 
of Ste. Genevieve county.* 

The second session of the General Assembly began in St. 
Louis, on the 6th of December, 1813. The Speaker elect 
of the House, was George Bullett, of Ste. Genevieve county ; 
the Clerk, Andrew Scott ; Door-keeper, William Sullivan. 
Vacations having occurred, several new members had been 
elected. Israel McGready appeared from the new county of 
Washington. Samuel Hammond was President of the Legis- 
lative Council. 

The Journal of the House, but not of the Council, is to be 
found in the Gazette. After passnig various laws, the Assem- 
bly adjourned, sine die, on the 19th of January, 1814. The 
boundaries of the counties of St. Charles, Washington, Cape 
Girardeau, and New Madrid, were defined, and the county of 
Arkansas created. f 

The enumeration of the free, white male inhabitants, taken 
under the Act of the Legislature, early in 1814, is as follows 

Arkansas, 827; New Madrid, 1548 ; Cape Girardeau, 2062 
Ste. Genevieve, 1701 ; Washington, 1010; St. Louis, 3149 
St. Charles, 1 ,096; making an aggregate of free, white male per- 
sons 11,393. Allowing an equal number of white females, and 
1,000 slaves and free blacks, and the population of the terri- 
tory was 25,000. The census of 1810, by the United States, 
gives 20,845 of all classes. 

Edward Hempstead, Esq., who had discharged his duty 

* Territorial Laws, vol. i. pp. 225, 290. 
•f Territorial Laws, vol. i. pp. 191-338. 



760 Territorial Legislation. 

faithfully as a Delegate to Congress, declined a re-election. — 
The candidates were Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, Alex- 
ander McNair and Thomas F. Riddick. The aggregate votes 
from all the counties (excepting Arkansas) was 2,599, of 
which Mr. Easton had 965; Mr. Hammond, 74G; Mr. McNair, 
853 ; and Mr. Riddick (who had withdrawn his name previous 
to the election) 35. 

The apportionment under the census, increased the number 
of Representatives in the Territorial Legislature, to twenty- 
two. 

The first session of the second General Assembly, commen- 
ced in St. Louis, on the 5th of December, 1814. Twenty Re- 
presentatives were present the first day, James Caldwell, of 
Ste. Genevieve county, was elected Speaker, and Andrew 
Scott, clerk. The Council chose William Neely, of Cape Gi- 
rardeau county. President. The county of Lawrence was or- 
ganized from the western part of New Madrid, and the cor- 
porate powers of St. Louis, as a borough, enlarged. 

It appears from the journal of the House, in the Gazette, that 
James Maxv^^ell, a member of the Council from the county of 
Ste. Genevieve, and Seth Emmons, member elect of the House 
of Representatives from the county of St. Louis, had died, 
and measures were adopted to fill the vacancies. 

The laws passed this session, may be found in the Territo- 
rial Laws, volume first, pages 339 to 421. 

Another weekly paper, called the " Western Journal," was 
started in St. Louis, in the spring of 1815. 

The Territorial Legislature commenced its annual session 
in November, 1815. Only a partial report can be found in the 
Gazette. The customary bu:<iness was transacted. The coun- 
ty of Howard was organized from the western portion of St. 
Louis and St. Charles counties. 

The acts pa.ssed may be found in the first volume of the 
Territorial Laws, pages 422 to 489. The session continued 
until January 26th, 1816. 

The war with Great Britain having closed, and the treaties 
held with the various nations of Indians at Portage des Sioux, 
in 1815, gave peace to the frontier settlements of Missouri and 
Illinois — [Annals, pp. 648 to 651.] Immigrants now began to 
Hock to these territories. Old settlements increased in num- 
bers, and new settlements were formed. 



Territorial Legislation. 761 



'■b 



The Territorial Legislature of Missouri, commenced again 
in December, 1816, and continued till February 1st, 1817. — 
Amongst the acts passed, was one '* killing of wolves, pan- 
thers and wild-cats ;" two or three lotteries were chartered; 
— a charter granted for an academy at Potosi ; and a Board 
of Trustees incorporated for superintending schools in the 
town of St. Louis. This was the starting point in the school 
system in this city. 

The old " Bank of Missouri" was chartered and soon went 
into operation, and by autumn, 1817, the two banks, "St. 
Louis" and " Missouri," were issuing bills. The one called 
St. Louis, went into operation in 1814. [See Territorial Laws, 
vol. i. pp. 489—553.] 

The Territorial Legislature held a session in December, 
1818. During this session the counties of Jefferson, Frank- 
lin, Wayne, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, Pike, Cooper, 
and three counties in the southern part of Arkansas, were or- 
ganized. The next year (1819) the territory of Arkansas was 
formed into a separate Territorial Government. 

The Territorial Legislature of Missouri, made application 
to Congress for authority to organize a State Government. 

The organization of so many new counties, and the appli- 
cation to organize a State Government, indicate the rapid in- 
crease of population by immigrants, from 1816 to 1818. Dur- 
ing the latter year, St. Louis commenced its onward progress 
in buildings, enterprize and commerce. At the commence- 
ment of that year, the writer counted seven houses and stores 
of brick, that were finished and occupied, a few more unfin- 
ished and occupied, and some eight or ten with the founda- 
tions laid, or walls up. During 1818, more than three mill- 
ions of brick were manufactured, and about one hundred 
buildings erected. Of these, two were church edifices, but 
never finished. The first brick dwelUng-house erected in St. 
Louis, in 18 13-' 14, was by Wm. C. Carr. 

The first steamboat that ascended the Mississippi, above the 
mouth of the Ohio, was the General Pike, that reached St. 
Louis the 2nd of August, 1817. It was commanded by Capt. 
Jacob Reed, who subsequently became a citizen of the place, 
and died here. The second steamboat was the Constitution, 
Capt. R. P. Guyard, which arrived on the 2nd of October,,in. 
the same year. During 1818, there were several arrivals. 
48 



762 Appendix. 

The population of St. Louis in 1815, as taken by the Sher- 
iff, John VV. Thompson, was 2,000. Throughout the county, 
including the town, 7,395. 

In 1816, the late Colonel Daniel M. Boone, son of the old 
pioneer, and Mr. Lamme, penetrated the Gasconade pine for- 
ests, and erected the first saw-mill on Little Piney. Subse- 
quently, A. Pattie purchased Boone's interest and became a 
partner of Lamme. John McDonald, of St. Louis county, 
with his family connections, erected another mill on the same 
stream in 1817, and removed his family there the same season. 



SECTION SECOND. 
Territorial Government of Illinois. 

On the 14th of February, 1812, Governor Edwards issued 
bis proclamation, ordering an election to be held in each coun- 
ty, on the second Monday in April, for three successive days, 
that the people might decide whether they would enter on the 
second grade of government. The territorial charter gave 
ample power to the Governor, to advance the territory to the 
second degree, but it was his rule through life, to ascertain and 
be guided by the popular will, and govern accordingly. The 
vote at the election decided the question in the affirmative by 
a very large majority. 

It came to the knowledge of the Governor, that some per- 
sons at Peoria, (a mere hamlet, with a few French cabins, after 
the war,) were selling liquor to the Indians. On the 25th of 
May, 1812, he issued the following proclamation: — 

"Whereas, it is deemed improper to furnish the Indians 
with spirituous liquors at Peoria; — 

" I do hereby forbid all persons whatsoever, to sell, ex- 
change, or in any manner give, or deliver to any Indians or In- 
dian, any spirituous liquors, or any ardent spirits, within 
twenty miles of Peoria ; and I do hereby enjoin it ujion Thos, 
Forsythe, and any other Justice of the Peace for St. Clair 
county, to enforce this proclamation." 

On the 16th of September, the Governor, by proclamation, 
organized the counties of JMadison, Gallatin, Pope, and John- 
son; and the same day issued another proclamation, author- 
izing an election to be held in each county, on the 8th, 9lh 



Territoi'ial Government of Illinois. 763 

and 10th days of October, to elect members of the Council 
and House of Representatives. 

Another proclamation dated November 10th, authorized the 
members elect to convene at Kaskaskia, on the 25th of the 
same month. 

The members of the Council were Pierre Menard, of Ran- 
dolph county, who was elected to preside ; — William Biggs, 
of St. Clair county ; — Samuel Judy, of Madison county ; — 
Thomas Ferguson, of Johnson county ; — and Benjamin Tal- 
bot, of Gallatin county. John Thomas, Esq., was chosen Se- 
cretary. 

The House of Representatives consisted of William Jones, 
from Madison county; — Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short, from 
St. Clair ; George Fisher, from Randolph ; — Phillip Trammel 
and Alexander Wilson, from Gallatin ; — and John Grammar, 
from Johnson county. Their Clerk was Wm. C. Greenup. — 
Both bodies occupied separate rooms in a house in that an- 
cient town — had a door-keeper in common, and all boarded 
in one family. They did their work like men devoted to busi- 
ness matters. Not a lawyer or an attorney is found in the roll 
of names. They deliberated like sensible men, passed such 
laws as they deemed the country needed, made no speeches, 
had no contention, and after a brief session of some ten or 
twelve days, adjourned. 

The following brief sketch, so far as we have had informa- 
tion, of the members of the first Legislative Assembly of Illi- 
nois, may be interesting to some of our readers. 

Duct. George Fisher, came to Kaskaskia as a merchant in 
1800, from Hardy county, Va. At the period of his election, 
he resided on his farm five miles north of Kaskaskia, at the 
point of the bluffs. His education was medium, but he possess- 
ed considerable original talent, and great firmness. He was 
a member of the Convention to organize a State Government 
in 1818, and died in 1820. 

Phillip Trammel, was a lessee of the U. S. Saline, in Galla- 
tin county ; possessed a good discriminating mind, had a strong 
inclination to military affairs, and died in a few years after. 

Alexander Wilson, kept a public house in Shawneetown, 
was a man of moderate abilities, and died soon after the war. 

John Grammar, was a plain frontier man from Tennessee, 
with very little education in youth ; but a man of good €om- 



764 Appendix. 

mon sense, and subsequently represented Union county re- 
peatedly in each House of the State Legislature. 

Joshua Oglesby was a respectable farmer, and a local Meth- 
odist preacher in St. Clair county, a man of decent education, 
and respected by his neighbors. He died in 1828. 

Jacob Short was a citizen and farmer of St. Clair county, and 
distinguished himself as a ranger during the war. He came 
with his father, Moses Short, to Illinois in 1796. 

Wm. Jones, was born in North Carolina, removed in early 
life to East Tennessee, and from thence to came to Illinois in 
1806, and settled in Rattan's prairie, a few miles east of Al- 
ton. He was a Baptist preacher, of moderate abilities, grave 
in his deportment, and respected by his acquaintance. He 
represented the county of Madison, in the State Legislature 
in 1828, and died in January, 1845. 

Pierre Menard, was a French gentleman and a native of 
Canada. He came to Kaskaskia about the close of the last 
century, and was engaged in the Indian trade with success. 
He was a man of intelligence, popular among all classes, 
upright and strictly honorable. He was elected the first Lieu- 
tenant Governor of the State, and presided with dignity and 
propriety over the Senate. He died a few years since, respec- 
ted and lamented. 

William Bi<:ffs, whose name appears in the Appendix, (p. 
701,) was an intelligent and respectable man, and for some 
years a Judge of the Court of Common Picas, in St. Clair 
county. He died about 1828 or 1829. 

Samuel Judy was the commander of a company of spies in 
the war, a man of much energy, fortitude and enterprise, 
and died in Madison county a few years since. 

Of Thomas Ferguson and Benjamin Talbot, we have no 
certain information. 

The members of the House of Representatives in the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature in 1814. were, Wm. Rabb, of Madison 
county ; — Risdon Moore, Sen., and James Lemen, Jr., of St. 
Clair county; — James Gilbreath, of Randolph county ; — Phil- 
lip Trammel and Thomas C. Brown, of Gallatin county ; — and 
Owen Evans, of Johnson county. Risdon Moore was elected 
Speaker, and Wm. Mears, Clerk, and Moses Stewart, joint 
Door-keeper between the two bodies. The Council were the 
same persons as in the preceding session. 



Second Territorial Legislature. 765 



"t) 



The committee on Revenue made a report, that from Jan- 
uary 1st, 1811, to November 8th, 1814, the revenue from tax- 
es received, was $4,875 45 ; of which there had been paid 
into the Treasury $2,516 89, and remained in the hands of 
delinquent Sheriffs $2,378 47. 

This Legislature took action on the subject of Common 
Schools. 

"On motion of Mr. Trammel, a committee was appointed to 
draft a bill to incorporate the inhabitants of the respective 
townships, to enable them to choose trustees to lease and ap- 
propriate the profits of the sixteenth section in each township, 
for the benefit of Public Schools, in conformity to the act of 
Congress." 

Messrs. Evans and Trammel were that committee. (See 
Legislative Journal, November 28, 1814.) 

A bill was reported on the 30th, and passed by the House 
December 2nd. Edwards county was organized this session. 
Benjamin Stephenson was the first Delegate elected to Con- 
gress in 1812. 

At the session of the General Assembly, of 1815-16, Pierre 
Menard again presided in the Council, and Risdon Moore in 
the House of Representatives. The counties of White, Mon- 
roe, Jackson and Johnson, were organized this session. Ira- 
migration came into the territory rapidly at this period. A 
settlement was formed in 1815, by a few families south of the 
Macoupin [Ma-qua-pin, it should have been written] in the 
south part of the present county of Greene, and the next year, 
Thomas Rattan, and one or two more families, made their 
pitch on the border of a fertile prairie, above Apple Creek. — 
Through Morgan, Sangamon, and all the counties west of the 
Illinois river, the Indians, (now peaceable,) roamed and hunt- 
ed. 

The counties south, towards the Ohio and Wabash rivers, 
received a large accession to their population, and many per- 
sons advanced into the wilderness, and built their cabins and 
made their locations along the Saline, Muddy, Beaucoup, and 
Little Wabash rivers. The settlements were generally made 
on the borders of the prairies; too many inconveniences then 
existed in settling out in the prairies. 

The session of the Territorial Legislature of 1816-17, 
caught the banking mania, and chartered the " Illinois Bank," 



766 Appendix. 

at Shawneetown, and the " Edwardsville Bank." Both these 
banks became deposit banks for government funds, received 
the money from the Land Offices, and used it for their own 
purposes. The Illinois Bank eventually accounted for the 
whole, after considerable delay ; but against the Bank of Ed- 
wardsville, the United States obtained a judgment for fifty- 
four thousand dollars, which has never been collected.* 

At the session of the Legislature, of 1817-18, the "Bank 
of Cairo" was incorporated ; connected with the project of 
building a city at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers. Some of the persons afterward having died, the pro- 
ject was suspended. In the period of the "Internal Improve- 
ment" mania, in 1836, this bank was galvanized into exis- 
tence, flourished for a short time, and expired. 

In 1815, Nathaniel Pope, Secretary of the Territory, was 
elected to Congress, and remained in that office till the State 
Government was formed. In that capacity he rendered the 
State very important service. He obtained the extension of 
the line of the new State north, from the southern bend of 
Lake Michigan, to latitude 42 degrees 30 minutes, which now 
constitutes the limit of that State, and he was mainly instru- 
mental in obtaining the act to form the State Government, 
when scarcely forty thousand souls existed in the State. 

• Brown'8 lUinoia, p. 420. 



CHAPTER V. 

STATE GOVERNMENTS. 

SECTION FIRST. 

Organization of the State of niirwis. 

Representatives to the Convention to form a State Constitu- 
tion were chosen. We record their names and the counties 
they represented. The counties of Crawford, Bond, Union, 



Slate Legislation. 767 

Washington and Franklin, had been organized the preceding 
Legislature. 

St. Clair. — Jesse B. Thomas, John Messinger, James Lem- 
en, Jr. 

Randolph. — George Fisher, Filias Kent Kane. 

Madison. — Benjamin Stephenson, Joseph Borough, Abra- 
ham Pickett. 

Gallatin. — Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphus Fred- 
erick Hubbard. 

Johnson. — Hezekiah West and Wm. McFatridge. 

Edwards. — Seth Gard, Levi Compton. 

White. — Willis Hargrave, Wm. McHenry. 

Monroe. — Caldwell Carnes, Enoch Moore. 

Pope. — Samuel Omelvany, Hamlet Furguson. 

Jackson. — Conrad Will, James Hall, Jr. 

Crawford. — Joseph Kitchell, Edward N. Cullom. 

Bond. — Thomas Kirkpatrick, Samuel G. Morse. 

Union. — Wm. Echols, John Whitaker. 

Washington. — Andrew Bankson. 

Franklin. — Joshua Harrison, Thomas Roberts. 

Jesse B. Thomas, was chosen President, and Wm. C. Green- 
up, Secretary of the Convention. 

This body assembled at Kaskaskia in July, and closed their 
labors by signing the Constitution they had framed on the 
twenty-sixth day of August. 

The election for the first Legislature, was appointed to be 
held on the third Thursday, and the two following days in 
September, and all white male inhabitants above the age of 
twenty-one years, who were actual residents of the State at 
the time of signing the Constitution, had the right of suffrage. 
The first session of the General Assembly was to commence 
at Kaskaskia, on the first Monday in October following, but 
all subsequent sessions on the first Monday in December, there- 
after. The Constittution was not referred to the people for 
adoption. In general, they were satisfied with the labors of 
their servants. 

Members to the General Assembly were elected, met at the 
time appointed, and set in operation the new machinery of 
government. Shadrach Bond, of Kaskaskia, had been duly 
elected Governor, and Pierre Menard, of the same place. Lieu- 
tenant Governor. Their terms of service were from 1818 to 



768 Appendix. 

1822. Governor Bond in his brief Inaugural address, called 
the early attention of the General Assembly to a survey, pre- 
paratory to opening a canal between the Illinois river and 
Lake Michigan. 

Ninian Edwards, whose administration over the territory 
had gained a strong position in the confidence of the people, 
was elected Senator of the United States' Congress. Jesse 
B. Thomas, who had presided in the Convention with dignity 
and impartiality, was elected to the same office. The treas- 
ury of the State was impoverished at the commencement, as 
the expenses of the Convention, and then of the Legislature, 
had to be incurred before a revenue system could be adopted 
and carried into effect. After a short session the Legislature 
adjourned. 

The second session commenced about the first of February, 
1819, and continued until the 20th. During this period they 
revised and re-enacted the Territorial Laws, so far as appli- 
cable to the State, with such additional laws as the public 
exigencies seemed to require. 

SECTION SECOND. 
Organization of the Slate of Missouri. 

It has been stated already that the Territorial Legislature 
of 1818-19, made application to Congress for a law to be 
passed, authorizing the people of INIissouri to organize a State 
Government. John Scott, Esq., was the Delegate in Congress 
at that period ; having been elected by a majority of votes 
over Rufus Easton, in 1817. 

A bill was prepared in Congress during the session of 1818- 
'19, in the accustomed form, authorizing the people to elect 
Delegates in the several counties, to constitute a Convention 
for the purpose of forming a Constitution. While under pro- 
gress, an amendment in the form of a proviso^ was introduced 
by Mr. Talmadge, of New York, in the following words : 

^'' And, provided, That the further introduction of slavery, or 
involuntary servitude, be prohibited, except for the punish- 
ment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been fully con- 
victed ; and that all children born within the said State, after 
the admission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age 
of twenty-years." 



Slate Legislation. 769 

This proviso, after a brief discussion, passed the House of 
Representatives, on the 15th of February, 1819, by a vote of 
79 to 67. This unexj*ected movement brought up what has 
since been called the " Missouri Question;" caused a protract- 
ed discussion, and raised one of those political storms, which 
threatened to endanger, if not dissolve the national Union. — 
It not only agitated Congress, but the Union from one extreme 
to the other, for eighteen months. Amongst the people in this 
territory, the excitement was intense ; the absorbing idea that 
prevailed was, that the Congress of the United States, a body 
limited in constitutional power, was about to deprive the peo- 
ple of Missouri of their just rights, in forming a Constitution 
in accordance with the treaty of cession, and as they might 
judge the best calculated to promote their interests. The wri- 
ter at that period was a citizen of the territory, and in his 
professional calling, had occasion to travel into every county. 
Taking no direct part in an exciting political question, and 
mixing with all classes of people, hearing their conversations 
in private and their discussions in public, he claims to know 
the views by which they were actuated. At that period not 
one-fourth of the population owned or held slaves ; many were 
opposed to slavery as a measure of State policy, but, (with a 
very few exceptions,) all were determined to resist what thoy 
regarded an arbitrary stretch of congressional power. 

Louisiana, from its earliest colonization, had sustained and 
tolerated negro slavery on both sides of the Mississippi. Un- 
der the government of both France and Spain, African negroes 
had been recognized as property by the laws. The treaty of 
cession secured to the inhabitants of this province the protec- 
tion and full enjoyment of their property. Hence the people 
of Missouri, and their friends in Congress, maintained that 
Congress possessed no just right to disturb the existing rela- 
tion of master and slave. With the people of Missouri, it 
became an absorbing question of political rights. 

The discussions in Congress continued during the session, 
and the bill was lost, with other unfinished business. 

During the following summer the discussions continued in 
Missouri, chiefly on one side, though the "Gazette" opened its 
columns to all parties. 

On the opening of Congress, Mr. Scott, Delegate from Mis- 
souri, and chairman of the committee on the " Memorial from 



770 Appendix. 

Missouri," reported a bill "to authorize the people of that 
territory to form a Constitution and State Government, on an 
equal footing with the original States." The bill was twice 
read aud referred to the committee of the whole House. This 
was on the 9th of December, 1819. On the 14th, Mr. Taylor 
of New York, oflered a resolution for the appointment of a 
committee " to enquire into the expediency of prohibiting by 
law, the introduction of slaves into the territories of the Uni- 
ted States, west of the Mississippi." After some discussion, 
in which the Delegate from Missouri took part, the Missouri 
bill was postponed and made the order of the day for the se- 
cond Monday in January. The discussion opened at that pe- 
riod, and continued during the winter, ^'arious amendments 
were proposed, in both Houses, and lost. 

Application had been made by the people of Maine, with 
the consent of Massachusetts, to form a State Government and 
be admitted into the Union. This proposition, for a period, 
became coupled with the Missouri Question. 

In the Senate, on the 3d of February, Mr. Thomas from Illi- 
nois, offered an amendment to the Missouri branch of the 
bill, in the following words: — 

^^ And be it further enacted, That in all that territory ceded 
by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, 
which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north 
latitude, [excepting only such part thereof as is] not included 
within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slave- 
ry and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punish- 
ment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall be, and is hereby forever prohibited : Provided, 
ahvai/s, That any person escaping into the same, from whom 
laborer service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory 
of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, 
and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- 
vice, as aforesaid." 

This amendment was adopted in the Senate on the 17th of 
February, by a vote of 34 to 10, and subsequently became the 
basis of the " Missouri Compromise," modified by striking out 
the words enclosed in brackets. On ordering the bill to a third 
reading in the Senate, the vote was in the afHrmative, 24 to 
20. 

On the 3rd of March, the bill as amended from the Senate 
and passed, was sent to the House. Though the Journal be- 



The ''Missouri Question." Ill 

fore us is silent on that subject, it is understood as a historical 
fact, that at this crisis, when despair sat on the countenances 
of the friends of Missouri, Mr. Clay, who was Speaker of the 
House, exercised the office of peace-maker, and by his popu- 
larity and influence with both parties, not in an official capa- 
city, but as an individual, healed the waters of strife, and in- 
duced a majority of the members to accept the compromise of 
the Senate. The clause restricting slavery within the State 
of Missouri, was stricken out by the majority of 90 to 87. On 
the final vote, for inserting the substitute from the Senate, it 
was decided under the previous question, in favor, 134; — - 
against it, 42. So the House concurred in the amendments of 
the Senate to the bill, on the evening of the 3;-d of March. 

The " Compromise" may be found in the 8th section of the 
Act to authorize the people of Missouri to form a^Constitu- 
tion and State Government. [Territorial Laws, volume 1, pp. 
628, 631.J 

The Act provided for the representation of each county in 
the Convention; in the aggregate, forty-one members. 

The boundaries prescribed, are here given : 

" Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi river, on the 
parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude ; thence west 
along that parallel of latitude, to the St. Francois river ; 
thence up, and following the course of that river, in the mid- 
dle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of 
thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west along the 
same, to a point where said parallel is intersected by a meri- 
dian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the 
Kansas river, where the same empties into the Missouri river ; 
thence, from the point aforesaid, north, along the said meri- 
dian line to the intersection to the parallel of latitude which 
passes through the rapids of the river Dcs Moines, making the 
said line to correspond with the Indian boundarij line; thence 
east, from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the 
said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the 
main fork of the said river Des Moines, to the mouth of the 
same, where it empties into the Mississippi river; thence, due 
east, to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi 
river; thence dow^n and following the course of the Mississip- 
pi river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the 
place of beginning." 

We have given the boundary in full, to explain the ground 
of a dispute, which at one period threatened serious collision 



772 Appendix. 

between the territory, and subsequently the State of Iowa and 
the State of Missouri, relative to boundaries and jurisdiction. 
The words in italics gave rise to the difference, and involved 
the questions: First, what was meant by the "rapids of the 
river Des Moines;" Secondly, what Indian boundary line was 
intended ? 

Missouri contended for certain rapids, or ripples in the river 
Des Moines, some distance up, which threw the line some 
twenty or thirty miles farther north. Iowa contended the ra- 
pids in the Mississippi, called by the French explorers, La 
rapidcs la riviere Des 31oincs, was the point meant. After sev- 
eral years of contested jurisdiction, during which a sheriff of 
Missouri was imprisoned in Iowa, and military force was ap- 
pealed to, both States consented to refer the question of boun- 
dary and jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. After a labored investigation, the court decided in fa- 
vor of the old boundary line, as it was called, and the rapids 
of the Desmoinesin the French sense of the term. 

The election for members of the Convention was held on 
the first Monday, and two succeeding days of May, 1820. — 
The only discussion on slavery, was, whether the emancipa- 
tion of slaves should be left open for legislative action at any 
future time, or restricted in the Constitution. We do not re- 
collect that any candidate was elected who advocated leaving 
the question open. Tiie objection urged against this policy 
was, that slaves were, in a legal sense, property; that proper- 
ty could not be taken from its owner by statute law, except 
for public purposes, and tlienonly for compensation paid; that 
were the Legislature at any time to pass a law to emancipate 
slaves, the courts could nullify the act; and that when the 
people desired to change the policy of the State, they could 
reorganize the government by a new constitution. 

We here give the members of the Convention, and the coun- 
ties they represented : 

Cape Girardeau. — Stephen Byrd, James Evans, Richard S. 
Thomas, Alexander Buckner, Joseph McFerron. 

Cooper. — Robert P. Clark, Robert Wallace, William Lil- 
lard. 

Franklin. — John G. Heath. 

Howard. — Nicholas S. Burckhartt, Duff Green, John Ray, 
Jonathan S. Findlay, Benjamin H. Reeves. 



Missouri Convention. 773 

Jeffason. — Samuel Hammond. 

Lincoln. — Malcolm Henry. - 

Montgo7nery. — Jonathan Ramsey, James Talbott. 

Madison. — Nathaniel Cook. 

ISew Madrid. — Robert D. Dawson, Christopher G. Houts. 

Pike. — Stephen Cleaver. 

St. Charles. — Benjamin Emmons, Nathan Boone, Hiram H. 
Baber. 

Sle. Genevieve. — John D. Cook, Henry Dodge, John Scott 
R. T. Brown. 

St. Louis. — David Barton, Edward Bates, Alexander Mc- 
Nair, Wm. Rector, John C. Sullivan, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., 
Bernard Pratte, Thomas F. Riddick. 

Washington. — John Rice Jones, Samuel Perry, John Plutch- 
ings. 

Wayne. — Elijah Bettis. 

The Convention met at St. Louis, on the 12th day of June. 
David Barton was elected President, and William G. Pettus 
Secretary. 

Their labors were finished by signing the constitution on 
19th day of July, 1820. The first General Assembly were re- 
quired to meet on the third Monday in September, at St. Lou- 
is. An election for a Governor, Lieutenant Governor ; a re- 
presentative in Congress for the residue of the sixteenth Con- 
gress; a representative for the seventeenth Congress; sena- 
tors and representatives to the General Assembly, sheriffs and 
coroners, was held on the fourth Monday in August. The ap- 
portionment in the constitution for the first General Assem- 
bly, provided fourteen senators, and forty-three representa- 
tives. 

Alexander xMcNair was elected Governor, and William H. 
Ashley, Lieutenant Governor, and John Scott representative 
to Congress. No provision v.'as made to refer the adoption of 
the constitution to the people, and it took effect from the au- 
thority of the Convention. 

There were several features in the constitution quite objec- 
tionable to the people. These were the office of Chancellor, 
with a salary of $2,000 per annum ; and the salaries of the 
Governor and the Judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts, 
being fixed at not less than $2,000 per annum for each officer. 

The mode provided for amending the constitution, was by 



774 Appendix. 

a vote of two- thirds of each House of the General Assembly 
proposing amendments; these to be published in all the news- 
papers in the State three times, at least twelve months before 
the next general election; and if, at the first session of the 
next General Assembly after such general election, two-thirds 
of each House, by yeas and nays, ratify such proposed amend- 
ments, after three separate readings, on three several days, the 
amendments become parts of the constitution. 

At a special session of the General Assembly, in 1821, 
amendments were proposed to remove the objectionable fea- 
tures, and passed by the constitutional majority. The next 
General Assembly at its first session ratified them. 

At the first session of the General Assembly in 1820, Thos. 
H. Benton and David Barton were elected Senators to repre- 
sent the new State in the Congress of the United States. The 
Senators and Representative were at Washington City at the 
opening of the session, when, on presenting the constitution 
and claiming admittance as a State into the Union, they met 
a repulse. In article third, defining the legislative power of 
the General Assembly, was the following injunction : — 

" It shall be their duty, as soon as may be, to pass such laws 
as may be necessary 

" To prevent free negroes and mulattoes from coming to, 
and settling in this State, under any pretext whatsoever." 

To this clause objections were made in Congress, the State 
was refused admittance into the Union, and another discus- 
sion followed. The objection was, that "free negroes and 
mulattoes" were citizens of some of the States, and the clause 
infringed on the rights of such as were guaranteed in the con- 
stitution of the U. States. The words of the constitution are: 
" The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States." The diffi- 
culty was increased by remonstrances from the legislatures of 
Vermont and New York, against the " Missouri Compromise" 
of the preceding session, and the reception of the new State 
without the restriction of slavery. 

In the House of Representatives, the resolution previously 
introduced to admit that State, was rejected by the vote of 79 
to 93. 

The Select Committee, to whom the constitution was re- 
ferred, made an elaborate report and recommended the recep- 



Another " Missouri Question.''^ 775 

tion of the State. This was also disagreed to, 83 to 36.* — 
This was February lOih. On a subsequent occasion the ques- 
tion came up somewhat modified, and was lost in the House, 
80 to 83. This vote was afterwards reconsidered, by a vote 
of 101 to 66. 

During the session the whole subject was discussed; the 
rights of the south; the balance of power; the rights of the 
people of Missouri, and the mooted question, whether " free 
negroes" were, constitutionally citizens in all the States, were 
agitated questions at various periods of the session. A reso- 
lution with various restrictions, to admit Missouri, finally pass- 
ed the House by a vote of 91 to 67, but in such a form as it 
would not be likely to receive the support of the Senate. 

At this crisis, (February 22,) Mr. Clay, (who had declined 
being a candidate for the speakership,) proposed a Joint Com- 
mittee of the House and Senate, which was carried by a vote 
of 101 to 55. Mr. Clay reported from the Joint Committee 
on the subject, (February 26,) the formula that became incor- 
porated in the public Act, to be found in the Laws of Con- 
gress for that session, and in the " Territorial Laws of Mis- 
souri," volume i.pp. 758, 759. 

The substance is as follows: On condition that the Legis- 
lature of Missouri, by a solemn act, shall declare the twenty- 
sixth section of the third article of the constitution, shall nev- 
er be construed to authorize the passage of any law by which 
any citizen of either of the States of the Union, shall be ex- 
cluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges to which 
such citizen is entitled under the constitution of the United 
States ; and shall transmit to the President of the United 
States, on or before the fourth Monday in November, 1821, 
an authentic copy of said act ; — upon the receipt thereof the 
President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact, where- 
upon, without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, 
the admission of that State into the Union shall be considered 
as complete. 

To carry this proviso out, it became necessary for the Gov- 
ernor to convene the Legislature in a special session, which 
was held in the town of St. Charles, in the month of June, 
and the Solemn Public Act was passed ; guarded by explana- 
tions, so as not to appear to affect constitutional rights. The 

* Niles' Register, lix. 409, 410. 



776 Appendix. 

mooted question whether " free negroes and mulattoes" are 
" citizens,-' in the sense of the constitution of the U. States, 
ren~ains as it was before the action of Congress and the Le- 
gislature of jMissouri. 

In the month of August, the President having received an 
authentic copy of the " Solemn Public Act," made proclama- 
tion that the reception of Missouri was complete. During the 
preceding session of Congress, the Senators and Representa- 
tives of this State had no seat in Congress, and the votes for 
President were not counted. 

We have been thus particular in this protracted sketch, that 
our readers may understand the whole subject. They may 
now learn there were two " Missouri Questions," and two 
" Compromises," on different and disconnected subjects. We 
hope the sketch given will prevent all readers of these An- 
nals from confounding both the subjects and the dates, as 
many have heretofore done. 

In 1820, the population of Missouri, by the United States 
census, was 66,586. The Legislature of that and of the fol- 
lowing year, organized the counties of Lillard (now Lafay- 
ette,) Ralls, Boone, Chariton, Ray, Perry, Cole, Saline, Gas- 
conade, Callaway, St. Francois, Scott and Clay. From the 
number of new counties created, the reader may infer the 
rapid increase of population, and the extension of settlements 
in Missouri. 

SECTION THIRD. 
Commercial and Military Enterprise. 

The first Steamboat that made a trip from New Orleans to 
Louisville, Ky., was the Enterpi'ise, commanded b}-- Captain 
Henry M. Shreve. The boat left New Orleans on the 6th of 
May, 1815, and arrived at Louisville on the 31st of the same 
month ; making the passage twenty-five days. This was then 
regarded as quite an achievement in the navigation of the 
Mississippi and Ohio with steam. For many years Captain 
Shreve was in the employ of the national government, in re- 
moving snags from the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and 
Red Rivers. That singular obstruction, made by fallen and 
imbedded timber in Red River, termed the "Raft," has been 
removed by his skill and agency, and navigation opened into 
the vast and rich country above. 



Expedition up the Missou7-i. 777 

The Independence, Captain Nelson, from Louisville, Ky., was 
the pioneer boat in the navigation of the more difficult chan- 
nel of the Missouri river. This was in the same month of 
May, 1819. She left St. Louis on t'le 13th, was at St. Charles 
on the 15th, and reached the town of Franklin, opposite 
Booneville, on the 26th of that month. The banks of the river 
were visited by crowds of people, as the boat came in sight of 
the town. It was the first boat that ever attempted to over- 
come the strong current of the Missouri, and find its way 
amidst the shifting sand-bars. Besides a large number of pas- 
sengers, this boat carried up a cargo of flour, whisky, sugar, 
coffee, iron, castings, and other goods. The question, long 
agitated, and much doubted, " can the Missouri be navigated 
by steamboats?" was fully solved. A new era in Missouri an- 
nals had opened. Boats now ascend this river daily, and to 
the remotest settlements; and repeatedly have boats gone up 
to the mouth of the Yellow Stone, about 1,800 miles above 
St. Louis. Even before 1844, the Assineboine went several 
hundred miles above the mouth of the Yellow Stone, into a 
gorge of the Rocky mountains. 

The Independence returned to St. Louis, on the 5th of June, 
and took freight for Louisville, Ky. 

On the 8th of June, 1819, the United States steamboat, 
Western Engineer, under command of Maj. S. H. Long, went 
on an exploring expedition up the Missouri, having on board 
several gi=^ntlemen attached to the department of Topographi- 
cal Engineers. This corps were on a tour of observation to 
the Yellow Stone, or at least the Mandan villages. They left 
St. Louis on the 21st of June. The boat was a small one, 
with a stern wheel, and an escape pipe so contrived as to emit 
a torrent of smoke and steam through the head of a serpent,, 
with a red, forked tongue, projecting from the bow. 

It was understood that this contrivance was intended to- 
make an impression on the Indians, as the boat had the ap- 
pearance of being carried by a monstrous serpent, vomiting, 
fire and smoke, and lashing the water into foam with his tail. 
Tradition says the aborigines were panic struck, and fled ;, 
imagining that the "pale-faces" had sent a " maniteau," into- 
their country to destroy them. 

A military expedition left Bellefontaine and St. Louis early 
in June, under the command of Colonel Atkinson, to establish 
49 



778 Appendix. 

a military post at Council Bluffs, then far in advance of tlie 
American settlements. The expedition consisted of three 
steamboats, of heavy construction, the Expedition, the Jeffer- 
son, and the Johnson, and nine keel-boats. Several of these 
last description of boats were prepared to be propelled with 
sails and wheels. In this expedition were General Jessup, 
Quarter-master General of the United States Army ; Colonel 
Henry Atkinson, Commander; Brevet Major Humphrys; Bre- 
vet Major Ketchum ; Captains Hamilton, Boardman, Living- 
ston, Reed, Haile, Shaler and Bliss. Colonel Chambers and 
Captain Smith, of the rifle regiment ; and Lieutenants Bedell, 
Wilcox, Talcott, Durand, Givens, Wetmore, (who was Pay- 
master;) Brown, (Quarter-master;) Mcllvain, Keeler and Palm- 
er, were in the expedition. The steamboats were comman- 
ded by Captain Colfax, of the "Johnson," Captain Craig, of 
the "Expedition," and Captain Orfort, of the ".Jefferson." — 
Colonel James Johnson, who, it was understood, had the con- 
tract from the War Department, to transport supplies and mu- 
nitions for the new post, was on the expedition. Another 
boat called the " Calhoun," was connected with the enter- 
prise. 

Residing then at St. Charles, the writer was witness to the 
astonishment of the people, to see these boats stem the rapid 
current of the Missouri. It was understood at the time that 
liberal encouragement had been given by the War Depart- 
ment to aid these boats, that, incidentally, the great question 
might be solved, whether the Missouri river could be naviga- 
ted by steam. 

The scientific corps under Major Long, returned from their 
tour of exploration up the Missouri to the Yellow Stone, to 
St. Louis, the latter part of October. 

According to a report made to the House of Representa- 
tives by the committee on Military Affairs, the following win- 
ter, it was contemplated by the administration to establish a 
post at the Mandan villages; that the expense of the Yellow 
Stone expedition, "over and above what the troops would 
have cost had they remained in their former positions," was 
estimated at $64,226. We suppose this included the steam- 
boat effort to the Council Bluffs, which proved a failure. One 
boat reached the vicinity of Cote Sans Dessein ; another lay 
by at Old Franklin ; and a third ascended to the mouth of 



Banks and Banking, 779 

Grand River. In the end, the military stores were transport- 
ed on keel-boats. These boats returned to St. Louis in the 
spring of 1820. 

The expenses were heavy. A member of the committee 
on Military Affairs, at the session of 1819-'20, stated that the 
claims for detention of the boats, and the losses, exceeded a 
million of dollars. The Secretary of the War Department 
had projected the establishment of a military post at or be- 
low the mouth of the Yellow Stone, and a series of military 
roads to connect that post by St. Peters and the northern 
Jakes, which Congress refused to sanction, by withholding the 
accessary appropriations. 



CHAPTER VL 
MISCELLANEOUS AFFAIRS, 

SECTION FIRST, 

Banks and Banking, 

We have given, in connection with Territorial Legislation^ 
a sufficient ske'.ch of some banks in Missouri and Illinois. — 
The Annals, [pp. 653, 654, and 657 to 658,] gives an outline of 
the early banking institutions in Ohio, A communication 
from John B. Dillon, of Indiana, since this work was put in 
press, states, that the " Bank of Vincennes" was chartered in 
1814, to continue until 1835; capital stock not to exceed 
$500,000. The <' Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Indiana," 
was chartered the same year; capital stock not to exceed 
^750,000 ; to expire January , 1835. These, with a multitude 
of other banks, in this valley, expired for lack of means to 
pay their debts, long before the charters terminated 

At the close of the war of 1812-15, there were two banks 
in Kentucky; the "Insurance Company," and the "State 
Bank"" and branches, 

A •' State Bank" in those days, was understood to mean a 
chartered bank, owned chiefly by stockholders, in which the 
State bad an interest, appointed a portion of the directorship, 



780 Appendix, 

and had some supervision over its affairs. Such were the 
State Banks of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and 
many others. From 1815 to 1818, not only chartered banks 
in Ohio, Indiana, and probably in other States, but uncharter- 
ed companies, sent out a large amount of bills as a circula- 
ting medium. Even individuals issued their tickets of" prom- 
ise to pay." The country was flooded with worthless paper. 

So much apprehension was excited in the minds of the peo- 
ple, and so much spurious currency was imposed on them, 
that as early as 1816, the Convention of Indiana restricted 
the banking system in the new State, to the charter of a single 
State Bank, with branches. 

Illinois adopted the same feature in its constitution in 1818, 
and in 1820, Missouri adopted a similar restriction. 

This, though it checked, did not cure the evil. The Legis- 
lature of Kentucky, in 1816 or 1817, chartered forty-seven 
" Independent Banks," as they were named, which soon sent 
forth a spurious currency into the remotest settlements. 

In 1818, a reaction commenced; the bills of such banks as 
the Treasury Department had selected as depositories of the 
government funds, were current in the Land Offices. The 
rapid influx of immigration, and the demands for land, absorb- 
ed a large proportion of this class of bills, while the floating 
paper of the other banks depreciated, until it was no longer 
current. 

By 1820, the reaction was complete ; the "Deposit Banks" 
failed, with heavy defalcations to the public treasury. The 
people were in debt ; creditors were clamorous for their dues; 
the circulating medium, that could be turned into specie, had 
vanished ; and legislation was sought for relief. 

A bank was incorporated by the Legislature of Illinois, on 
the 22nd of March, 1819, by the style of the " President, Di- 
rectors and Company of the State Bank of Illinois," to con- 
tinue for twenty-five years, with a capital not exceeding four 
millions of dollars, one half of which was to be subscribed by 
individuals, and the other half by the State, when " the Le- 
gislature thereof should deem proper." Books were to be 
opened in divers towns, and if stock was ever subscribed, not 
a dollar was paid. The mountain was not even a mole-hill, 
but it gives an illustration of the extravagant folly in legisla- 
tion at that period. 



Banks and Banking. 781 

The next General Assembly, at the session of 1820-21, re- 
pealed this mammoth charter; a way had been discovered to 
create money without capital. Another bank was chartered, 
in which specie had no concern, with a capital of $500,000, 
on State credit ; the stock to be raised and managed by State 
Directors, under the supervision of the Legislature. Three 
hundred thousand dollars, in paper currency, were to be emit- 
ted, loaned on real estate at two-thirds the appraised value, 
or on personal security, not exceeding one hundred dollars to 
individuals. No individual could obtain over one thousand 
dollars on landed security. The interest was six per cent.; 
the bills drew a credit of two per cent, per annum, and the 
institution was to run ten years; and, if its projectors were to be 
credited in their fancies, it would produce an increase in that 
period sufficient to redeem all the bills issued, pay all contin- 
gent expenses, and yield a net profit to the State of one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, at the expiration of its charter. All 
turned out as " the baseless fabric of a vision." 

The bills went down — down — down, to thirty-three cents 
on the dollar ; the real estate of borrowers, previously infla- 
ted by a spurious currency, went down in a greater ratio ; — 
lands tiiat had sold for ten dollars per acre, fell to two and 
three dollars; town lots in villages, actually sunk one thous- 
and per cent. ; and " fancy towns," on paper, became wholly 
valueless. At the expiration of the charter in 1831, when the 
bills had to be redeemed, there was no alternative to save the 
sinking credit of the State, but to contract a cash loan to re- 
deem the out-standing bills of one hundred thousand dollars. — 
This was the commencement of the debt of that State, and 
has been designated as the " Wiggins' Loan," from the gen- 
tleman who negotiated the stock. 

This was not the worst feature in the concern. Provision 
was made for the creditor to receive the paper for his dues, 
else the debtor could replevy for three years. Such laws, with 
"stay-laws," and "valuation laws," prevailed throughout the 
western States. 

The Legislature of Missouri, in June, 1821, established a 
'* Loan OJ^ce," and branches — the same thing as the Illinois 
Bank, under another name. The bills were called " certifi- 
cates," of which two hundred thousand dollars were issued, 
with the same appendages of " replevy" and " valuation" 



782 Appendix. 

laws, and nearly the same results ; except at an early period, 
the judiciary of that State decided the concern to be uncon- 
stitutional. 

We have no space to appropriate to a sketch of the " Wild 
Cat" banks of Wisconsin and Michigan, nor are we as well 
versed in the history of their institutions, as in those more di- 
rectly under our observation. 

One general feature existed in most of the earlier banks in 
the west, that pretended to be instituted on a specie basis. 
The term used in this country at the time, expresses the idea. 
They were shingled over the country. One bank was made 
the basis of another, and that of a third, and that of a fourth; 
consequently, when the foundation gave way, the whole went 
with a crash. The modern policy of hauling boxes or kegs 
of specie, from one bank to another, w^as not then invented ; 
or, more correctly, they had not specie enough to bear trans- 
portation. Two or three shrewd agents and directors, would 
gather up a few thousand dollars in specie, for stock honestly 
paid in, while the " knowing ones" would bring their " shin- 
gles," from a neighboring bank ; the bills, or stock of which 
was counted as so much capital paid in. 

In the session following, 1835, another "State Bank" W'as 
chartered by the Legislature of Illinois, supposed to be well 
guarded, and on a specie basis. Had it not been made the 
fiscal agent of the State, and crushed to death by the " mon- 
ster Internal Improvement system," it might have survived 
the tremendous crash of credit and values. But it died in 
1842, in a hopeless struggle to sustain the credit of the State. 
Since that period, Illinois has had no banking institution. 

The Bank of the Stale of Missouri went into operation, un- 
der stringent regulations, in 1837, and continues in good 
credit in 1650. 

SECTION SECOND. 

Illinois and Michigan Canal. 

In Niles' Register, volume sixth, page 394, may be found the 
earliest suggestion of a canal from Lake Michigan to the navi- 
gable waters of the Illinois river, that we have found in print. 
The date is August 6th, 1814, in time of the war, and is a 
paragraph from a series of editorial articles, on the great im- 
portance, in a national point of view, of the States and Ter- 



Illinois and Michigan Canal. 783 

ritories of this now great central valley. We give the ex- 
tract, 

"By the Illinois river, it is probable that Buffalo, in New 
York, maybe united with New Orleans, by inland navigation, 
through lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and down that river 
to the Mississippi. What a route ! How stupendous the idea! 
How dwindles the importance of the artificial canals oi Europe ^ 
compared with this water communication ! If it should ever 
take place (and it is said the opening may be easily made,) 
the territory [of Illinois] will become the seat of an immense 
commerce, and a market for the commodities of all regions." 

We have already noticed that Governor Bond, at the first 
session of the General Assembly, in 1818, brought this sub- 
ject before that body, in his Inaugural message. 

He suggested an early application to Congress for a certain 
per centage from the sales of the public lands, to be appropria- 
ted to that object. In his valedictory message, in December, 
1822, he again refers to this subject and to his first address, 
and states: — 

" It is believed that the public sentiment has been ascer- 
tained in relation to the subject, and that our fellow-citizens 
are prepared to sustain their representatives in the adoption 
of measures subservient to its commencement." 

His successor, Governor Coles, in his Inaugural, (December 
5th, 1822,) devotes four pages to this subject, refers to an act 
of the preceding Congress, which " gave permission to the 
State to cut a canal through the public lands, connecting the 
Illinois river with Lake Michigan, and granting to it the 
breadth of the canal, and ninety feet on each side of it." 

With this was coupled the onerous conditions " that the 
State should permit all articles belonging to the United States, 
or to any person in their employ, to pass toll free for ever." — 
The Governor, who was a zealous and liberal advocate for an 
economical and judicious system of Internal Improvements, 
proposed to create a fund from the revenues received for taxes 
on the military bounty lands; from fines and forfeitures; and 
from such other sources, as the Legislature in its wisdom, 
might think proper to set apart for that purpose. He also 
urged the importance of an opening through Indiana and Ohio, 
with Lake Erie, by improving the navigation of the Wabash 
andMaumee rivers, and connecting them by a canal, to which 



784 Appendix. 

objects he proposed the Illinois Legislature should invite the 
special attention of those States, and co-operate so far as ju- 
risdiction extended. He further proposed the examination 
and surveys of the rivers and the canal route in Illinois ; and 
to memorialize Congress for a liberal donation of land, in 
opening the projected lines of communication. 

An act for the improvement of the internal navigation of 
the State, and a memorial to Congress on the subject, were 
passed by the Legislature during the session. This act, (which 
was approved February 14th, 1823,) provided for a Board of 
Commissioners, whose duties Avere to devise and adopt meas- 
ures to open a communication, by canal and locks, between 
the navigable waters of the Illinois river and Lake Michigan ; 
to cause the route to be explored, surveys and levels to be 
taken, maps and field books to be constructed, and estimates 
of the costs to be made ; and to invite the attention of the 
Governors of the States of Indiana and Ohio, and through 
them the Legislatures of those States, to the importance of a 
canal communication between the Wabash and Maumee 
rivers. 

Thomas Sloo, Jr., Thcophilus W. Smith, Emanuel J. West, 
and Erastus Brown, were elected Commissioners. JMr. Sloo 
was from Hamilton county, and Messrs. Smith, West and 
Brown, from Madison county. 

At that period Sangamon river, and Fulton county, were 
the boundaries of settlements. A military and trading post 
existed at Chicago; a dozen families, chiefly French, were at 
Peoria. The northern half of Illinois was a continuous wil- 
derness ; or, as the universal impression was, an intermina- 
ble prairie, and uninhabitable for an age. Morgan county, 
then including Scott and Cass counties, had about seventy- 
five families ; and Springfield was a frontier village, of a 
dozen log cabins. 

A portion of the Commissioners, with the late Colonel Jus- 
tus Post, of Missouri, as their engineer, made an exploratory 
tour in the autumn of 1823. In the autumn of 1824, Colon- 
el Rene Paul, of St. Louis, was also employed as engineer, 
with the necessary men to assist in executing the levels, and 
making the surveys complete. The party was accompanied 
by one Commissioner. Two companies were organized, and 
five diflerent routes examined, and the expense estimated on 



Illinois and Michigan Canal. 785 

each. The locks and excavations were calculated on the sup- 
position that the construction was on the same scale of the 
grand canal of New York, then in process of making. The 
probable cost of each route, was reported by the engineers; 
the highest being $716,110; the lowest, 639,946. 

At the next session of the Legislature, an act was passed 
(January 17th, 1825,) to "incorporate the Illinois and Michi- 
gan Canal Company." The capital stock was one million of 
dollars, in ten thousand shares at one hundred dollars each.* 

The stock not being taken, at a subsequent session the Le- 
gislature repealed the charter. During these movements with- 
in the State, the late Daniel P. Cook, as the Representative 
in Congress, and the Senators of Illinois, were unceasing in 
their efforts to obtain lands from the national government, to 
construct this work, which all regarded as of pre-eminent na- 
tional advantage. As the result of these efforts, on the 2nd 
of March, 1827, Congress granted to the State of Illinois, in 
aid of this work, each alternate section of land, five miles in 
width, on each side of the projected canal. 

The embarrassments of the State in finance, growing out of 
the ruinous policy of the State Bank, noticed in the preceding 
section, prevented any thing being done until January, 1829, 
when the Legislature passed an act to organize a Board of 
Commissioners, with power to employ agents, engineers, sur- 
veyors, draftsmen, and other persons, to explore, examine, 
and determine the route of the canal. They were authorized 
to lay off town sites, and sell lots and apply the funds. 

They laid off Chicago, near the lake, and Ottowa, at the 
junction of Fox river; and the Illinois surveys and estimates 
were again made, but the project of obtaining a full supply 
of water on the surface level, was doubtful, and the rock ap- 
proached so near the surface on the summit level between 
the Chicago and Des Plaines, as to increase the estimates of 
cost, and cast doubt on the project. 

The subsequent Legislature authorized are-examination to 
ascertain the cost of a railway, and whether a supply of water 
could be obtained from the Calumet for a feeder. 

The estimated cost for a railway, with a single track, for 
ninety-six miles, about one million and fifty thousand dollars. 

*Eeport of the Canal Cominicsioners, Vandalia, 1S25. 



786 Appendix. 

It was a great mistake in the State, not constructing a rail- 
way. 

At a special session of the Legislature, in 1835-'36, an act 
Avas passed authorizing a loan of half a milHon of dollars for 
the construction of the canal, and the Board of Commission- 
ers was rc-organized, and on the fourth of July, 1836, the first 
ground was broken. 

At the regular session of 1836-37, the "Internal Improve- 
ment' system became the absorbing topic, the canal was 
brought under the same influence ; loans, to a vast extent, 
were created for both objects : and the most extravagant ex- 
pectations were raised, but never realized. 

The sole reliance of the State was on loans, without any 
finances of its own, or any means to pay annual interest and 
liquidate the principal. As a financial measure, the canal 
loans were distinguished from the Internal Improvement and 
other loans, but all failed with the credit of the State, before 
1842. 

Contracts were made, and the work on the scale projected., 
made progress until over five millions of dollars had been ex- 
pended, and the work remained unfinished. The credit of the 
State having sunk so, that no further loans could be obtain- 
ed, the contractors were obliged to abandon their contracts, 
with heavy claims against the State ; and in 1843, a law was 
passed to liquidate and settle the damages, at a sum not ex- 
ceeding two hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The Board 
of Commissioners was dissolved, and the works remained in 
the same state for two years. 

The session of 1843-44, adopted a plan to complete the 
canal, by making the "shallow cut," or relying on the streams 
for water, without excavating six feet below the lake level, 
as had been projected and partially worked, and drawing sup- 
plies from that source. About sixteen hundred thousand dol- 
lars would complete the work on this plan. The resources 
were about 230,000 acres of land; several hundred city and 
village lots ; the water power along the whole line ; a bal- 
ance due the canal fund for lands iuid lots sold; and the ca- 
nal tolls. All these resources were considered ample to com- 
plete the work, pay interest on the loans, and eventually re- 
deem the stock, provided additional funds could be obtained. 
A proposition was made and accepted by the stockholders, a 



Internal Improvement. 787 

Board of Joint Trustees were appointed, and one million six 
hundred thousand dollars advanced. The whole work was 
completed in 1848 ; regular business was commenced, and has 
increased in a larger ratio than any of the estimates. 

We have given only some of the prominent facts in the his- 
tory of this great enterprize. Were we to enter into details, 
it would be a volume by itself. 

Of the monster " Internal Improvement" system, which 
brought one of the heaviest calamities on the State, but from 
which its recuperative energies are slowly recovering, we 
have no space for particulars. From 1835 to 1840, the popu- 
lar mind through the United States, passed through a sj)ecies 
of mania. Men, who were shrewd, clear-headed, and safe 
calculators, became incapable of reasoning correctly in finan- 
cial matters. The Legislature of Illinois, as did other Legis- 
lative bodies, labored and acted under a singular halluci- 
nation. A minority resisted ; a prominent leader of which, 
the late General J. J. Hardin, was among the number that op- 
posed the " splendid project." The law passed ; ten millions 
of dollars were to be loaned and applied to various lines of 
railroads, and river improvements, and appropriations made 
for the same. The railroads extended like checker- work over 
the State ; every one of which was planned, and estimates 
made by the committee on the cop)'^ of a sectional map of the 
State, just published, and which had reached the seat of gov- 
ernment. The whole length of the railroads to be made, was 
one thousand three hundred and forty-one miles. Extrava- 
gant as was this scheme, loans were negotiated to an amount 
exceeding five millions of dollars, and the money thrown 
away. The whole system went down about 1841, increasing 
the demands against the State, (including accumulations of 
interest due,) to an amount exceeding fifteen millions of dol- 
lars. Great as this burden may appear to others, Illinois has 
resources, and has made provision to liquidate this heavy 
debt. The canal stock includes a moiety of this debt, and its 
resources and income will absorb that portion. The Stale has 
other resources. But in making a new constitution in 1847, 
which was adopted by a vote of the people, in March, 1848, 
a section providing a special tax of two mills on the dollar of 
the civil list, was adopted by a separate vote of the people, 
by more than ten thousand majority. This income is applied^ 



788 Appendix. 

to the extinguishment of the principal of this debt; and vvc 
think it is the first instance in which the people, by a direct 
vote, have solemnly declared they will tax themselves to pay 
an old debt. 

SECTION THIRD. 

Slavery in Illinois. 

We have already mentioned, [Appendix, 673,] that Renault 
brought five hundred slaves to Illinois, from St. Domingo. — 
These became the progenitors of that class of the African 
race, which, in the statute books and census of Illinois, were 
called " French slaves." Before Renault returned to France, 
in 1744, he sold the interest he, or the company with whichhe 
had been connected, had in slaves to the French colonists. — 
A portion of this class were taken across the Mississippi to 
Upper Louisiana, and some to the lower province, on the ces- 
sion of the country to the British Government. [Appendix, 
693.] Those who remained in the Illinois country, held their 
slaves by virtue of the treaty of cession, which secured to the 
inhabitants the possession of their entire property, axid a guar- 
antee of all their rights. Slavery, then, existed by law in all 
the British colonies. 

The edict of Louis XIII., of France, dated the 23d of April, 
1815, and re-enacted by Louis XV., 1724, contained the laws 
and regulations concerning slavery in Louisiana.* To this 
document we refer our readers. 

The conquest of the country by Clark, in 1778, brought the 
subject under the jurisdiction of Virginia, and in its transfer 
to the Continental Congress, in 1784, the same relationship of 
property was secured. 

The ordinance of 1787, was prospective, and has been so 
decided by the courts. The question whether the descend- 
ents of those who were slaves in 1787, could be held in servi- 
tude, on the ground of a " vested right," remained open, un- 
til 1845, when, by a decision of the Supreme Court of Illi- 
nois, it was decided they were free. The new constitution 
adopted by the people in March, 1848, put an end to involun- 
tary servitude in every form in Illinois. 
L The operation of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slave- 
l ry in the North-Western territory, was a subject of complaint 

* See Dillon's Indiana, i. pp. -16, bo. 



Slavery in Illinois. 789 

• 

by a very few interested persons, who, by memorials to Con- 
gress, made efforts to obtain a removal of the restriction for a 
limited period. The first petition was from four persons in 
Kaskaskia, in 1796, asking that slavery might be tolerated 
there. In 1804, a Convention was held on the subject at Vin- 
cennes, to deliberate on " territorial interests," of which Gov- 
ernor Harrison was President. One object was to obtain a 
modification of the organic law. A memorial was sent to 
Congress, which was referred to a committee in the House ; 
the Chairman was the late Mr. Rodney ; the Report recom- 
mended that the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, " be 
suspended, in a quaUfied manner, for ten years, so as to per- 
mit the introduction of slaves born in the United States," etc. 
It was not passed. 

At the session of the Territorial Legislature of 1806-7, a 
series of resolutions were adopted and reported to Congress, 
by the late Judge Parke, then Delegate. At that time, Jesse 
B. Thomas was Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
and Pierre Menard President j9ro. tern, of the Council ; both 
citizens of that part of the territory, now included in the State 
of Illinois. There were seven resolutions, of which six were 
reported to Congress as if passed unanimously. We. have the 
best authority for saying this was a clerical error; the late 
John Messinger, of Illinois, and the recent correspondence of 
John B. Dillon, Esq. A resolution was reported by the com- 
mittee to which they were referred, in favor of a suspension 
of the sixth article of the ordinance for ten years, and lost in 
the House.* 

This movement produced a political re-action in the terri- 
tory. The opponents of the measure brought out as a can- 
didate for Congress, Jonathan Jennings, and elected him over 
the opposite candidate, and continued him by successive re- 
elections until the State Crovcrnmejit was formed, when he 
was elected Governor, and continued in that ofiice until 1822. 
The number of slaves reported by the census of 1800, in Indi- 
ana, (including Illinois,) was 133; in 1810, 237 ; in 1820, 190; 
in 1830, none. In 1810, IHinois had 168 slaves ; in 1820, 917 ; 
in 1830, 746.t 

* American State Papers, xx. 473. Fpecch of Mr. Burt, Congressional Globe. Appen- 
dix, January, 1847, p. 117. 

t American Almanac, 1332, p. 268, 261. 



790 Appendix. 

, To avoid the restriction in the organic law, the territory of 
I Indiana passed an act (September 17, 1807,) entitled *' An 
\ Act concerning the Introduction of negroes and mulattocs into this 
'^ Territory. ''' It legalized the introduction of that class of per- 
sons, (who were slaves in the States or Territories,) into that 
territory, by requiring the owner, or possessor, to enter into in- 
dentures with his slave, to serve for a stipulated period as an 
indentured servant, and then become free. A record of this 
♦ must be made in the Court of Common Pleas, within thirty 
I days after the introduction of the slave or slaves. Children un- 
I der fifteen years of age, were required to serve their former 
\ owner or possessor — males, until thirty-five years of age, and 
^ females until thirty-two years of age. This class were term- 
ed " Indentured servants." Many slave-holders from Virgin- 
ia, Kentucky and other States, who desired to relieve them- 
selves from the ownership of slaves, migrated and availed 
themselves of this law. This form of servitude has been re- 
moved by judicial decisions in Indiana, and by the new con- 
stitution in Illinois. 

For several years after the war, persons migrated to Illi- 
nois, with the view of emancipating their slaves. Of these 
instances, the one most deserving of note, is that of Edward 
Coles, afterwards Governor of the State. Mr. Coles was 
born in Albemarle county, Va., December 16th, 1786. — 
His father was a rich planter, with a large number of slaves, 
but having ten children, the amount of property received by 
each child was not large. Edward received for his share a 
plantation and about twenty slaves; — the slaves constituting 
about oae-third of his estate. It was in William and Mary 
college, under the tuition of the late Bishop Madison, he re- 
ceived the conviction of the wrong and impolicy of negro 
slavery — and he then formed the resolution, that should he 
come into possession of this species of property, he would 
emancipate them. Mr. Coles became Private Secretary for 
President Madison, and remained six years an inmate of his 
family. He was then sent on a special mission to Russia, as 
the bearer of dispatches to the American Minister, the late J. 
Q. Adams, during which he made the tour of Europe. On his 
return, he effected a sale of his plantation, and removed his 
slaves to Illinois, in 1819, purchased 160 acres of land for 
each family, and superintended their settlement in the vicini- 



Slavery in Illinois. 791 

ty of Edwardsville. Soon after, he was appointed by Presi- 
dent Monroe, Register of the Land Office in Edwardsville, 
where, in 1821, we had the pleasure of forming his ac- 
quaintance, which ripened into intimacy. lie was elected 
Governor of the State in 1822; and, as it turned out, at a 
most important ci'isis. 

In the election of that year, in some of the extreme south- 
ern counties, the question of opening the State for the intro- 
duction of slavery was discussed. But in the Legislature the 
succeeding winter, it assumed an alarming attitude in poli- 
tics. 

The old constitution provided for alterations only in one 
mode. A vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly couldt 
authorize the people to vote for or against a Convention, at 
the next election. If a majority of votes was in favor, the 
subsequent Legislature was required to order an election for 
members to the Convention, and appoint the time of meeting, 
the apportionment to be in ratio to the members in both hous- 
es of the General Assembly. 

At that period, the progress of the population northward, 
had rendered this apportionment peculiarly unequal, and the 
strong hold of the advocates of slavery was in the counties 
near the Ohio river; and in the old French settlements. It 
was demonstrated, that on a contingency, one-fourth of the 
votes of the people could elect a majority in a Convention, 
and that majority might probably be in favor of opening the 
State for slavery. Hence it became a paramount object of 
the opponents of the measure, to defeat the Convention. 

After several efforts, it waS found the constitutional majori- 
ity in the Legislature was lacking by one vote. A contested 
election, of a perplexing and complicated character, had 
come from Pike county, then including all the territory north 
and west of the Illinois river, and, at the early part of the 
session, was decided in favor of Mr. Hanson ; but some 
members who were opposed to a Convention, conscientiously 
gave their votes for the contestant, Mr. Shaw. After a stormy 
session of about ten weeks, the Convention party adopted the 
desperate alternative of a reconsideration, and 'turned out 
Hanson, and put in Shaw. This turned the scale, and the 
vote recommending the people to vote for or against a Con- 
vention, was carried. A number of the members of both 



792 Appendix. 

Houses entered their solemn protest against both the object, 
and the measures to obtain it. 

The resolution passed both Houses but a short time before 
the adjournment, February, 1823. But one of the four pa- 
pers in the State — the " Edvvardsville Spectator," by Hooper 
Warren — at that time took a stand decided against slavery 
and a Convention. 

Elections were biennial, and, the question had to be decided 
on the first Monday in August, 1824; the contest was spirited. 
The people, who were opposed to the introduction of slavery, 
became aroused ; public meetings were held ; and societies 
organized for " the prevention of slavery in Illinois." The 
ifirst move was made in the county of St. Clair, where the 
Convention party were strong, and led by some of the strong- 
est political men in the State. A county society was organ- 
ized, officers appointed, an address to the people of Illinois 
was published, and an invitation made to form societies in 
other counties. Fourteen similar societies were organized in 
as many counties, and a correspondence established in them 
through persons who could be trusted, in every county and 
election precinct. This system was in full operation before 
August, and a year remained to gather strength. The oppo- 
site party relied on quiet and concealed operations. Many 
denied, and doubtless honestly thought, the introduction of 
slavery was not the object ; that there were objectionable fea- 
tures in the constitution, that should be removed. In the 
counties north of the road from St. Louis to Vincennes, very 
little was said by this party in favor of slavery, except to 
ward off the charges made by their opponents. The mem- 
bers of the preceding Legislature, who had protested against 
the Convention question, contributed each fifty dollars from 
their wages, to meet expenses in printing and circulating pa- 
pers. The Governor was in the opposition, and at once re- 
solved to expend his four years' salary in the contest, and no- 
bly did he redeem the pledge. 

The summer and autumn wore away, and the Convention 
party had no regular organization. The time appointed for 
rallying the leaders and acting in concert, was in December, 
at the session of the Supreme Court in Vandalia. The paper 
at that place, that performed the public printing, was their 
strong garrison, so far as newspaper armor was concerned. — 



The Monks of La Trappe. 793 

On the morning of their meeting, this citadel surrendered to 
their opponents, hoisted the anti-Convention flag, and prepar- 
ed to pour grape shot into their ranks, in the form of news- 
paper bullets. Governor Coles had purchased an interest in 
the press; David Blackwell, Esq., of Belleville, had been ap- 
pointed Secretary of State, to fill a vacancy, and conducted 
the paper as editor. From that time until August, the con- 
test was carried on vigorously by both parties, and finally de- 
cided against a Convention, by about 1800 majority. The 
number of votes given in the State, was nearly 12,000. 

During the contest it was anticipated that an indirect influ- 
ence out of the State, would be exerted to gain the question. 
All such extraneous influence the opponents resisted. Of the 
members of Congress, Governor Edwards and Daniel P. Cook 
Avere strong in the opposition, and each wielded a vigorous 
pen in the cause. 

In six months after, the question was settled; a politician 
who was in favor of the introduction of slavery in the State, 

was a KARA AVIS. 

SECTION FOUR. 
The Monks of La Trappe. 

We refer to this Order, not for any religious purposes, but 
because they had a residence in the United States, from 1804 
to 1813, and in the American bottom, in Illinois, from 1810. 
The Monastery of this Order, was anciently situated in the 
Province of Perche, in France, in one of the most soUtary 
spots that could be chosen. It was founded in 1140, under 
the patronage of Rotrou, Count of Perche. They were a 
branch of the Order of Cistercian monks. Their Monastery 
had fallen into decay, and their rigid discipline much relaxed, 
when the Order was reformed by the Abbe Ranee, in 1664.— 
Ranee was a gay man of the world, but meeting with a sud- 
den riisfortune— some authors say the infidelity of his wife,— 
others assert the sudden death of Madame Mo.ntbazon, whose 
favorite lover he had been ; — he renounced the world, entered 
this Monastery, and took the lead in a system of most severe 
austerity. Perpetual silence was the vow ; every comfort of 
life was rejected, and a stone was his bed ; bread and water 
his only food ; and every day a handful of earth was removed 

from his grave. 
50 



794 Appendix. 

The furious storm of the French revolution, scattered the 
Trappists. A branch of the Order came to the United States, 
in 1804, first established themselves near Cone\vango,in Penn- 
sylvania; then in Kentucky; next at Florisant, in St. Louis 
county; — and finally, in 1810, on a farm and a high mound in 
the American bottom, near the boundary line of St. Clair and 
Madison counties. Colonel N. Jarrot, of Cahokia, gave them 
the use of a farm and other accommodations in Illinois. 

Here they lost two priests and five lay-brothers of the Or- 
der. The climate and situation were not congenial to the 
rigid austerities enjoined by the Order. 

They cultivated a garden, repaired watches, and traded 
with the people, but were generally filthy in their habits, and 
extremely severe in their penances and discipline. In 1813, 
they sold off their personal property, and left the country for 
France.* 

We add to this section an item overlooked in its proper 
connection. " Father Meurain died at Prairie du Rocher, in 
the year 1778. He was the last of the Jesuits in this coun- 
try. He was ordered home ; but at the request of the Indians 
he returned, and was their Father-confessor. He was a very 
learned man, and has left a valuable library, and a manuscript 
dictionary of the Indian and French languages, in twenty- 
four volumes. He was a Missionary to the Illinois Indians, 
and was respected and beloved by them, as a very pious and 
faithful Missionary."! 

The two last Jesuit Missionaries at JMackinaw and L'Abre 
Croche, were Fathers Le Franc and Du Jauiiy, who were 
sixty years in the country. 

* Breckenridge's Louisiana, — Spalding's History of Catholic Missions in Kentucky; — 
Beck's Gazetteer, p. 4.^9. 

f Morse's Indian Keport, Appendix, p. 244. 



The Black Hawk War. 797 

and Sauks, two of their crew were killed and four wounded. 
Tiie party was commanded by Red Bird, but Black Hawk was 
of the party. General Atkinson marched a detachment of 
troops into the Winnebago country, captured Red Bird and 
six other Indians, and committed them to prison in Prairie du 
Chien, for trial. Red Bird died in prison. A part of the oth- 
ers were convicted and executed in December, 1828. 

About this year, the President issued a proclamation, ac- 
cording to law, and the country about the mouth of Rock Riv- 
er, which had been previously surveyed, was sold, and the 
year following, was taken possession of by American families. 
Some time previous to this, after the death of old Quash- 
quame, Keokuk was appointed chief of the Sauk nation. — 
The United States gave due notice to the Indians to leave 
the country, east of the Mississippi, and Keokuk made the 
same proclamation to the Sauks, and a portion of the nation, 
with their regular chiefs, with Keokuk at their head, peacea- 
bly retired across the Mississippi. Up to this period, Black 
Hawk continued his annual visits to Maiden, and received his 
annuity for allegiance to the British government. He would 
not recognize Keokuk as chief, but gathered about him all the 
restless spirits of his tribe, many of whom were young, and 
fired with the ambition of becoming " braves," and set up him- 
self for a chief. 

Black Hawk was not a Pontiac, or a Tecumthe. He had 
neither the talent or the influence to form any comprehensive 
scheme of action, yet he made an abortive attempt to unite 
all the Indians of the west, from Rock River to Mexico, in a 
war against the United States. 

In the memoir he dictated, and Leclair wrote, he states, [p. 
97,] "runners were sent to the Arkansas, Red River and Tex- 
as, — not on the subject of our lands, but on a secret mission, 
which I am not, at present, permitted to explain." The mis- 
sion was no secret when the memoir was written. It was to 
arouse up the Indians to attack the white settlements, through 
the long line of frontier, at the same time. 

Still another treaty, and the seventh in succession, was 
made with the Sauks and Foxes, on the 15th of Jul}'^, 1830, 
in which they again confirmed the preceding treaties, and 
promised to remove from Illinois to the territory west of the 
Mississippi. This was no new cession, but a recognition of 



798 Appendix. 

the former treaties by the proper authorities of the nation, and 
a renewed pledge of fidelity to the United States. 

During all this time Black Hawk was gaining accessions to 
his party. Like Tecumthe, he, too, had his Prophet — whose 
influence over the superstitious savages, was not without 
effect. 

In 1830, an arrangement was made by the Americans, who 
had purchased the land above the mouth of Rock River, and 
the Indians that remained, to live as neighbors; the latter cul- 
tivating their old fields. Their enclosures consisted of stakes 
stuck in the ground, and small poles tied with strips of bark 
transversely. The Indians left for their summer's hunt, and 
returned when their corn was in the milk — gathered it, and 
turned their horses into the fields, cultivated by the Ameri- 
cans, to gather their crop. Some depredations were commit- 
ted on their hogs and other property. The Indians departed 
on their winter's hunt, but returned early in the spring of 1831, 
under the guidance of Black Hawk, and committed depreda- 
tions on the frontier settlements. Their leader w' as a cunning, 
shrewd Indian, and trained his party to commit various de- 
predations on the property of the frontier inhabitants, but not 
to attack, or kill any person. His policy was to provoke the 
Americans to make war on him, and thus seem to fight in de- 
fense of Indian rights, and the " graves of their fathers." — 
Numerous affidavits, from persons of unquestionable integri- 
ty sworn to, before the proper officers, were made out and 
sent to Governor Reynolds, attesting to these and many other 
facts. We have examined these documents, knew, personal- 
ly some who subscribed to them, and others from good testimo- 
ny. Black Hawk had about five hundred Indians in train- 
ing, with horses, well provided with arms, and invaded the 
State of Illinois with hostile designs. These facts were known 
to the Governor and other officers of the State. Consequent- 
ly, Governor Reynolds, on the 28th of May, 1831, made a call 
for volunteers, and communicated the facts to General Gaines 
of this military district, and made a call for regular troops. — 
The State was invaded by a hostile band of savages, under 
an avowed enemy of the United States. The military turn- 
ed out to the number of twelve hundred or more, on horse- 
back, and under command of the late General Joseph Dun- 
can, marched to Rock River. 



The Black Hawk War. 799 

The regular troops went up the Mississippi in June. Black 
Hawk and his men, alarmed at this formidable appearance, 
recrossed the Mississippi, sent a white flag, and made a treaty, 
in which the United States agreed to furnish them a large 
amount of corn and other necessaries, if they would observe 
the treaty. 

In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk with his party again 
crossed the Mississippi to the valley of Rock River, notwith- 
standing he was warned against doing so by General Atkin- 
son, who commanded at Fort Armstrong, in Rock Island. — 
Troops, both regular and militia, were at once mustered and 
marched in the pursuit of the native band. Among the troops 
was a party of volunteers under Major Stillman, who, on the 
14th of May, was out upon a tour of observation, and close 
in the neighborhood of the savages. On that evening, having 
discovered a party of Indians, the whites galloped forward to 
attack the savage band, but were met with so much energy 
and determination, that they took to their heels in utter con- 
sternation. The whites were 175 in number; the Indians 
from five to six hundred. Of this party, twenty-five followed 
the retreating battalion, after night, for several miles. Eler- 
en whites were killed and shockingly mangled, and several 
wounded. Some four or five Indians were known to be kill- 
ed. This action was at Stillman's run, in the eastern part of 
Ogle county, about twenty-five miles above Dixon. 

Peace was now hopeless, and although Keokuk, the legiti- 
mate chief of the nation, controlled a majority, the tempta- 
tion of war and plunder was too strong for those who follow- 
. ed Black Hawk. 

We now quote from the first edition of the Annals, with 
some emendations : — 

On the 21st of May, a party of warriors, about seventy in 
number, attacked the Indian Creek settlement in La Salle 
county, Illinois, killed fifteen persons, and took two young 
women prisoners ; these were afterwards returned to their 
friends, late in July, through the efforts of the Winnebagoes. 
On the following day, a party of spies was attacked and four 
of them slain, and other massacres followed. Meanwhile 3000 
Illinois militia had been ordered out, who rendezvoued upon 
the 20th of June, near Peru ; these marched forward to the 
Rock River, where they were joined by the U. States troops, 
the whole bein°r under command of General Atkinson. Six 



800 Appendix. 

hundred mounted men were also ordered out, while General 
Scott, with nine companies of artillery, hastened from the sea- 
board by the way of the lakes to Chicago, moving with such 
celerity, that some of his troops, we are told, actually went 
1800 miles in eighteen days; passing in that time from Fort 
Monroe, on the Chesapeake, to Chicago. Long before the ar- 
tillerists could reach the scene of action, however, the western 
troops had commenced the conflict in earnest, and before they 
did reach the field, had closed it. On the 24th of June, Black 
Hawk and his two hundred warrioi-s were repulsed by Major 
Demint, Avith but one hundred and fifty militia : this skirmish 
took place between Rock River and Galena. The army then 
continued to move up Rock River, near the heads of which it 
was understood that the main party of the hostile Indians 
was collected ; and as provisions were scarce, and hard to con- 
vey in such a country, a detachment was sent forward to Fort 
Winnebago, at the portage between the Wisconsin and Fox 
rivers, to procure supplies. This detachment, hearing of Black 
Hawk's army, pursued and overtook them on the 21st of Ju- 
ly, near the Wisconsin river, and in the neighborhood of the 
Blue Mounds. General Henry, who commanded the party, 
formed with his troops three sides of a hollow square, and in 
that order received the attack of the Indians ; two attempts 
to break the ranks, were made by the natives in vain; and 
then a general charge was made by the whole body of Amer- 
icans, and with such success that, it is said, fifty-two of the 
red men were left dead upon the field, while but one Ameri- 
can was killed and eight wounded. 

Before this action, Henry had sent word of his motions to 
the main army, by whom he was immediate!}' rejoined, and on 
the 28th of Jul}-, the whole crossed the Wisconsin in pursuit 
of Black Hawk, who was retiring toward the Mississippi. — • 
Upon the bank of that river, nearly opposite the Upper loway, 
the Indians were overtaken and again defeated, on the 2nd 
of August, with a loss of one hundred and fifty men, while of 
the whites but eighteen fell. This battle entirely broke the 
power of Black Hawk; he fled, but was seized by the Win- 
nebagoes, and upon the 27th, was delivered to the officers of 
the United States, at Prairie du Chien. 

General Scott, during the months of July and August, was 
contending with a worse than Indian foe. The Asiatic chole- 
ra had just reached Canada; passing up the St. Lawrence 
o Detroit, it overtook the western-bound armament, and 
thence forth the camp became a hospital. On the 8th of July, 
his thinned ranks landed at Fort Dearborn or Chicago, but it 
was late in August before they reached the Mississippi. The 
number of that band who died from the cholera, must have 
been at least seven times as great as that of all who fell in 
battle. There were several other skirmishes of the troops 



"^ 



Cholera, and Flood in Ohio. 801 

with the Indians and a number of individuals murdered; 
making in all, about seventy-five persons killed in these ac- 
tions, or murdered on the frontiers. 

In September, the Indian troubles were closed by a treaty, 
which relinquished to the white men thirty millions of acres 
of land, for which stipulated annuities were to be paid ; con- 
stituting now the eastern portion of the State of Iowa, to 
which the only real claim of the Sauks and Foxes, was their 
depredations on the unoffending loways, about 130 years since. 
To Keokuk and his party, a reservation of forty miles square 
w^as given, in consideration of his fidelity ; while Black Hawk 
and his family, were sent as hostages to Fort Monroe in the 
Chesapeake, where they remained till June, 1833. The cliief 
afterwards returned to his native wilds, where he died. 

Black Hawk cannot rank with Pontiac orTecumthe; he 
fought only for revenge, and showed no intellectual power; 
but he was a fearless man. 

The same disease which decimated General Scott's troops, 
during the autumn of this year, and the summers of 1S33 and 
1834, spread terror through the whole west, though during last 
year it was comparatively mild. We have room to notice 
only three facts in relation to it ; the first is, that other dis- 
eases diminished while it prevailed ; — the second, that many 
points which were spared in 1832, (as Lexington, Ky.) were 
devastated in 1833; — the third, that its appearance and pro- 
gress presented none of the evidences of infection or conta- 
gion. 

A visitation less fatal than the cholera, but for the time most 
disastrous, had come upon the valley of the Ohio in the pre- 
ceding February. A winter of excessive cold was suddenly 
closed, by long continued and very heavy rains, which, una- 
ble to penetrate the frozen ground, soon raised every stream 
emptying into the Ohio to an unusual heighth. The main 
trunk, unable to discharge the water which poured into it, 
overflowed its banks, and laid the whole valley, in many 
places several miles in width, under water. The towns and 
villages along the river banks, w^ere flooded in some instances 
so deeply, as to force the inhabitants to take refuge on the 
neighboring hills; — and the value of the property injured and 
destroyed must have been very great, though its amount could 
not, of course, be ascertained. The water continued to rise 
from the 7lh to the 19th of February, when it had attained 
the height of 63 feet above low water mark at Cincinnati. 

SECTION SECOND. 
Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 
Dubuque is the oldest settlement in the State of Iowa, be- 
ing coeval with Galena, as a village. As a trading post, it is 



802 Appendix. 

identified with the Frenchman whose name it perpetuates. — 
Bellevue and Fort Madison, have already been noticed as mili- 
tary posts. 

The subjection of Black Hawk and his hostile party, and 
the treaty that followed in 1832, opened the extensive tract of 
country along the Mississippi, to American settlements; and 
the following spring, companies from Illinois crossed the river, 
built their cabins, and made improvements for farming early 
in 1833. The first settlement was in the vicinity of Burling- 
ton. Coeval with it, was the settlement near Fort Madison. 
From this period, the progress and extension of settlements 
were rapid, and the population increased with far greater ra- 
pidity, than in the history of previous territories. For more 
than eighteen months the people were " a law unto them- 
selves," being without the jurisdiction of any organized ter- 
ritory. In 1S34, Congress attached this territory to that of 
Michigan, for temporary jurisdiction, and two large counties, 
Dubuque and Desmoines, were organized. Their aggregate 
population in 1836, \vas 10,531 persons, and the same year 
Wisconsin was organized as a separate territory, and exercis- 
ed jurisdiction over the " District of Iowa." 

In 1838, we were at Burlington during the session of the 
Wi-sconsin Legislature. The official intelligence of the or- 
ganization of the Territory of Iowa, was received the last of 
June, and the Legislature finding itself beyond its own juris- 
diction, adjourned. The Territorial Government took effect 
on the 4th of July, 1838. Robert Lucas, a former Governor 
of Ohio, was the Governor and Superintendent of Indian Af- 
fairs, and James Clark, Secretary of the new Territory. 

During that year the territory, which had been subdivided 
into sixteen counties, had a population of 22,860 persons. 

In 1839, the General Assembly located the seat of govern- 
ment, on the river that gives name to the State, and called it 
the " City of Iowa." Immigration continued to increase ; in 
1840 the population was 43,017 ; while that of the Wisconsin 
Territory, was 30,945 persons. In 1843, the Territorial Le- 
gislature petitioned Congress for authority to adopt a State 
Constitution, which was granted at the next session, and on 
the 7th of October, 1844, the Convention assembled and 
adopted a Constitution, which was not approved by Congress. 
Another Convention was held 1846, the limits restricted, an 



Territory of Wisconsin. 803 

amended Constitution adopted, which was submitted to Con- 
gress in June, and the State received into the Union simultan- 
eously with Florida. 

Since that period, this State has made rapid progress; sev- 
eral chartered cities exist, containing a population of from 
2000 to 5000 inhabitants; the Indian title has been extin- 
guished, and civilization has extended over a large part of its 
territory. 

The population in the autumn of 1849, was estimated at 
180,000. 

Wisconsin has made slower progress, and been longer in the 
race, but has become a large, thriving and prosperous State. 
Its oldest settlement is Green Bay. Farming settlements were 
made contiguous to Galena, during the lead operations alrea- 
dy noticed. The Black Hawk war brought the extensive re- 
gion along the " Four Lakes" and the Wisconsin river, to the 
knowledge of the pioneers of Illinois, and opened the way for 
the settlement of that fine country. Soon after, immigration 
began to flow in from Michigan, Ohio and New York, and the 
wilderness soon became a fruitful field. As early as 1835, 
some enterprising persons planted themselves on choice town 
sites: along the borders of Lake Michigan and Racine, South- 
port, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and many other towns have 
sprung into existence. Milwaukee is a large commercial city, 
with some 18,000 or 20,000 inhabitants, and commands the 
trade of an extensive back country. 

This territory formed a Constitution in 1846, which was not 
approved by a large majority of the people. Another Con- 
vention was held, and a Constitution framed and adopted, 
February 1st, 1848, on which the State was received into the 
Union. The population, taken December 1st, 1847, was 220,- 
867. General Henry Dodge, now a Senator in Congress, was 
the first Governor of the territory, and, with the exception of 
four years, held that office during the existence of the Terri- 
torial Government. Each of these new States has adopted a 
system of common schools, which promise a bountiful harvest 
to future generations. 

Minnesota, is the new territory lying north of Iowa, and 
north-west of Wisconsin ; was organized in pursuance of a 
law passed by Congress, March 3rd, 1849, on the first of June 
the same year. Alexander Ramsey, of Harrisburg, Pa., was 



804 » Appendix. 

appointed Governor, and issued his proclamation on that day. 
A ceniius taken in June, showed the white population to be 
4,780. An election was held on the first day of August for 
a Legislative Assembly, and nine members of the Council, 
and eighteen members of the House of Representatives were 
elected. The session commenced in the town of St. Paul, on 
the first Monday in September. II. II. Sibley, is the Delegate 
in Congress. The message of the Governor is an able docu- 
ment. Tlie town of St. Paul, the present seat of govern- 
ment, commenced as a commercial town in the spring of 1849, 
and now has a population of 1000, and is a place of much 
busines;. 

A steamboat is being constructed to run the Mississippi above 
the Falls of St. Anthony, to Crow Wing river, in the year 
1853. The hitherto remote militar}'' post, called Fort Snell- 
ing, established in 1819, will soon be surrounded with civili- 
zation and the arts of peace. 

The territory has been divided into nine counties, in place 
of the old counties of La Pointe and St. Croix, that were or- 
ganized under the territory of Wisconsin. The names are 
Itasca, Washington, Ramsey, Benton, Pembina, (accent on the 
last .syllable) Mah-kah-to, Wah-nah-tah, Dahkotah, and Wau- 
bashaw. The counties of Ramsey, Washington and Benton, 
only had judicial districts in 1849. 

The village and settlement of Pembina, was commenced by 
Lord Selkirk, a Scotch nobleman, about 1812. He obtained 
a grant of land on Red river, from the Hudson Bay Company. 
Two settlements were formed; one at Fort Douglass, the oth- 
er higher up, and which proved to be below the 49th degree 
of latitude, and within the boundary of the United States. — 
This last settlement was called Pembina, a corruption of an 
Indian word, that signified a small red berry that grew in that 
region.* 

In 1823, the settlement consisted of about 350 persons, re- 
siding in sixty log houses, or cabins. The fathers were ciiiefly 
Swiss and Scotch emigrants, who married Indian wives. f At 
that period (1822-23.) droves of cattle were taken from Mis- 
souri and Illinois to tliis colony, and sold at a high price. The 
colony at I'embina, as it was in 1849, originated from a mix- 
ture of nations, as Scotch, English, French, Italians, Germans, 
and Swiss, amalgamated with Chippeways, Crees, Sioux and 
other Indian tribes. By the census of 1849, there were in this 

*The Viburaam Oxycoccos. 
t Loag's EipeJition, ii. 41, 45. 



The Black Hawk War. 795 



CHAPTER VII. 

SECTION FIRST. 
The Black Hawk War. 

As this portion of Illinois history has been much misunder- 
stood, and consequently misrepresented in several publica- 
tions, we shall give the facts of the case, but in a very con- 
densed form : 

1st. The Sauks and Foxes had no original right, in the In- 
dian sense even, to any portion of Illinois. They were in- 
truders on the country of the Santeaurs and loways. [Ap- 
pendix, 713.] 

2nd. The head chiefs sold their claim to their lands in Illi- 
nois and southern Wisconsin, to the United States, in 1804.* 
[Annals, 546.] 

3rd. This treaty was violated by all that portion of the uni- 
ted tribes, which committed hostilities against the United 
States, and joined the British during the war. The portions 
of the tribes that remained peaceable, re-confirmed the treaty 
of 1804, at Portage des Sioux, September 13th, 1815. The 
hostile part of the nation, in 1816, professed repentance for 
their misdeeds, obtained forgiveness, and the treaty of 1804 
was again renewed and re-enacted. [Annals, G48, 651.] 

4th. Black Hawk never was a chief; never recognized as 
such by Indian authority, or by the United States. He was a 
brave, in Indian parlance, gathered around him a small party 
of disaffected spirits, refused to attend the negotiations of 
1816 ; went to Canada, proclaimed himself and his party Bri- 
tish subjects, and received presents from that quarter. 

5th. Another treaty was made in full council, " with the 
chiefs, warriors, and head men of the Sac and Fox tribes," at 
Fort Armstrong, [Rock Island,] September 3rd, 1822, by the 
agent of the United States, in which the treaty of 1804, is re- 
ferred to and ratified. And still another treaty was made by 
ten regularly delegated chiefs and head men, and Governor 
Clark on the part of the United States, in Washington City, 

* Indian Treaties. 



W 



796 Appendix. 

the 4th of August, 1824. In this treaty they sell, for a valua- 
ble consideration, all their title to the northern portion of the 
State of Missouri, from the Mississippi to the western boun- 
dary of that State. At this treaty the United States granted 
the strip of country between the Mississippi and Desmoines 
river, to certain half-breeds of that nation. And on all the 
lands they had claimed south and east of this line, they are not 
to be permitted to settle or hunt, after the first day of Janua- 
ry, 1826. 

6th. In the treaty of 1804, the Sauks and Foxes were per- 
mitted to reside and hunt on the land sold, while it remained 
the property of the United States. 

Writers, and especially Brown, [History of Illinois, note, p. 
380,] have retained the story of Black Hawk, and by this 
means misrepresented this whole business. Brown has given 
Indian speeches, in place of authentic public documents and 
treaties. Drake, in his " Book of the Indians,''^ in many re- 
spects a valuable antiquarian work, has made great mistakes.* 
This work abounds with errors, concerning the causes and the 
management of the Black Hawk affair. 

7th. Another treaty was held at Prairie du Chien, in 1825, 
with the Sauks, Foxes, Winnebagoes, Chippeways, Sioux, and 
other North-western Indians. The object was to settle the 
long existing hostilities among these tribes, in which the Uni- 
ted States Government exercised the office of mediator. In 
1827, a party of twenty-four Chippeways, on a visit to Fort 
Snelling, was attacked by a band of Sioux, and eight of their 
number killed and wounded. The commander at Fort Snell- 
ing caused four of the Sioux, who had committed this mur- 
der, to be delivered to the Chippeways, by whom they were 
shot. Red Bird, a Sioux chief, determined to retaliate, and 
got defeated. Being derided by his own nation, he resolved 
to attack the white people, whom he regarded as allies of the 
Chippeways ; and on the 27th of July, two men in the vicini- 
ty of Prairie du Chien, were killed and a third wounded. At 
the same period hostile demonstrations were made by some 
Winnebagoes, and Black Hawk's party of the Sauks, in the 
vicinity of the lead mines, which caused much alarm. About 
the 28th of July, two keel-boats, conveying military stores to 
Fort Snelling, were attacked by hostile Sioux, Winnebagoes 

* Book T. chapter viii. pp. 141 to 165. 



Growth of Towns and Cities. 805 

settlement, of males 295 ; females, 342; total, 637. A colo- 
ny, chiefly French, is situated on the Missouri river. 

One of the most important incidents, in both Wisconsin and 
Minnesota, is the lumber business. Extensive forests of w^hite 
pine are on the waters of the Wisconsin, St. Croix, and other 
tributaries of the Mississippi, and mills are in extensive ope- 
ration on the streams. The lumber manufactured on the St. 
Croix alone, in 1849, amounted to ten millions of feet, board 
measure. This business will be a vast source of wealth to the 
district. 

SECTION THIRD. 
Growth of Towns and Cities, 

Chicago is one of the important commercial centres of the 
great central valley, that illustrate the rapidity of progress in 
population, business, enterprise and wealth. In 1832, it con- 
tained five small stores, and 250 inhabitants. The preceding 
year there were four arrivals, two brigs and two schooners, 
from the lower lakes, which were sufficient for all the trade 
and business for North-Eastern Illinois and North- Western 
Indiana. 

In 1835, there were 267 arrivals of brigs, ships and schoon- 
ers, including nine steamboats. The merchandize imported 
amounted to 5015 tons, besides 9,400 barrels of salt. The 
exports of 1843, exceeded one million of dollars; the imports 
$1,433, 886. It sustained great depression during the suspen- 
sion of the canal operations, from 1841 to 1846, and yet its 
growth continued. A railroad across the State to connect 
Chicago with Galena, has been put in operation to Fox river, 
and the work is progressing. The population of Chicago is 
estimated at 25,000. 

There are several important towns along the line, and at 
the termination of the canal, which we have now no room to 
particularize. The old village of Peoria, was situated one 
and a half miles above the outlet of the lake. As a French 
village, it commenced about 1779, and was called La Ville de 
Maillet. The people removed to the •' new village" on the 
present site of Peoria, in 1797. After the war, Fort Clark, 
already noticed, Vi-'as l)urnt. The situation of Peoria is beau- 
tiful beyond description, and is a place of business and com- 
merce. 

Springfield, the seat of government of Illinois, dates back 
to February, 1822. It is a handsome inland city, of 4000 in- 
habitants, surrounded with a rich agricultural district. It i.s 
connected with the Illinois river, by Jacksonville, at Naples, 
by a railroad, and will soon be with Alton with one to that 
place. 

Alton, after a long period of depression, is now in progress, 
and bids fair soon to be a place of much commerce. 



806 Appendix. 

In Missouri, the progress of settlements, the buihling up of 
towns, and the accumulation of agricultural wealth, have 
been fully equal to any other State in the Union for the last 
ten years. Jefferson City, the seat of government, was not 
designed for a commercial depot, but for the capitol and pub- 
lic offices of the State. St. Charles, Boonevijle, Fayette and 
Lexington, are incorporated cities. Of late, the rich mines of 
lead, copper and iron, have attracted the attention of capi- 
talists, and awakened a spirit of enterprise which gives prom- 
ise of success. 

Governors of the State of Missouri. — Alexander McNair, 
from 1820 to 1824 ; Frederick Bates, from 1824 to 1828 ; John 
Miller, from 1828 to 1832; Daniel Dunklin, from 1832 to 1836; 
Lilburn W. Boggs, from 1836 to lS40 ; Thomas Reynolds, 
from 1840 to 1844; John C. Edwards, from 1844 to 1848; 
Austin A. King, (the present incumbent) from 1848 to 1S62. 

Governors of Illinois. — Shadrach Bond, from 1818 to 1822; 
Edward Coles, from 1822 to 1826; Ninian Edwards (formerly 
Governor of the Territory,) from 1826 to 1830 ; John Rey- 
nolds, from 1830 to 1834 ; Joseph Duncan, from 1834 to 1838 ; 
Thomas Carlin, from 1838 to 1842; Thomas Ford, from 1842 
to 1846 ; Augustus C. French, from 1846 to 1848, the office 
having expired by the adoption of the new Constitution. He 
was again elected under the new Constitution, and goes out 
of office in January, 1853. 

Governor Edwards of Illinois, died at his residence in Belle- 
ville, of the cholera, July 20th, 1833, in the 69th year of his 
age. The prominent traits of his character were great decis- 
ion, determined resistless perseverance, quickness in despatch 
of iDusiness, sagacity to the public interest, and a liberal, gen- 
erous and philanthropic disposition. 

Governor Clark of Mis.souri, died at his residence in St. 
Louis, on the first day of September, 1838. He was Gover- 
nor of the Territory from 1813 to 1820, and Superintendent 
of Indian Afiairs to the close of his life. Previously, he had 
been the companion of Merri wether Lewis, in their tour of ex- 
ploration to the Pacific ocean. His intimate knowledge of 
Indian character, and his intercourse with them, won their es- 
teem and confidence. Through a long public life, he main- 
tained a character for strict integrity and unsullied honor. 

SECTION FOURTH. 
Growth of St. Louis. 

St. Louis, for steady progress and successful enterprise, since 
1830, has excelled all other cities with which we have been 
acquainted. There have been periods of pecuniary pressure, 
but none of pro.stration. Business, population and wealth, 
have increased with each revolving year. 

In addition to the position of u great seat of commerce and 



8f)7 

Growth of St. Louis. 

trade, for an extensive and rapidly improving territory, there 
are several branches of business that concentrate here. These 
are the mining business — the Indian fur trade and trapping 
enterprise ; — the JNIexican trade ; — the frontier military posts 
and Indian agency ; — and lately, the outfit of many thousands 
of California gold-hunters. In some of these branches, the 
people in the interior of Missouri have participated. We in- 
tended to have amplified each of these items in a series of 
sketches, but our limits are nearly exhausted. 

The fur trade, to a limited extent, was extended high up the 
Missouri river, before the cession of Louisiana. The average 
annual value of the furs collected in St. Louis, for fifteen suc- 
cessive years, ending in 1804, is stated to have been $203,750. 
James Pursley, in 1802, was the first hunter and trapper, and 
probably the first American, who traversed the great plains 
between the United States and New Mexico. The Missouri 
Fur Company, with a capital of $40,000, was organized in this 
city in 1808, and the hunters in its employ, were the first who 
pitched their camps on the waters of Oregon. That compa- 
ny was dissolved in 1812; the fur trade of the Missouri was 
prosecuted by Messrs. Chouteau, Berthold, Pratte, Lisa, Ca- 
banne, and others. Messrs. Pilcher, Lisa, Thos. Hempstead, 
Perkins and others, revived the Missouri Company soon after 
the war, and carried their enterprise into the defiles of the 
Rocky mountains. 

In 1823, the late General William H. Ashley fitted out his 
first trapping expedition to the mountains and upon the wes- 
tern waters. He had a severe engagement with the Arica- 
ra Indians, in which he lost fourteen men. General Ashley 
and his men, ascended the Sweet water, discovered the South 
Pass, and thus opened a highway to Oregon and California. 
In 1824, he extended his exploration and line of trade to the 
Utah Lake. Between the years of 1824 and 1827, General 
Ashley and his men sent to St. Louis furs to the value of $180,- 
000. The annual value of the fur trade alone, for 40 years, 
has averaged from two to three hundred thousand dollars, and 
hence an important item in the growth of St. Louis.* 

The Santa Fe trade from Missouri, originated in Franklin, 
Howard county, where the first enterprise was planned, and 
an outfit procured in 1822. f This has been since prosecuted 
with great enterprise and various success from this city. 

The United States census of 1840, owing to the very limi- 
ted bounds of the corporation, and the extension of the streets 
and blocks of the city beyond, misrepresented the population. 
The report exhibited only 16,469, whereas the population 
within the town of St. Louis, was not less than 28,000. 

A similar discrepancy will appear in tlie ceusus of 1850; for ahhough 

* Address of Thomas Allen, at the "Celebration" of St. Louis, February 15, 1847, pp. 
16, 18. 

■f Wetmore's Gazetteer, p : 86. 



808 The Cholera, and Great Fire. 

tlie corporate boundaries were much extended after 1840, s3veral thous- 
and persons are now living without the city bounds, and will be enumera- 
ted with those of the county. On January 1st, 1849, the census, not tak- 
en closely, gave 64,000 ; while in the city and suburbs, there were not 
less than 7:3,000 persons. With all the diminution by cholera, the in- 
crease in twelve months has been large ; and our lowest estimate is 85,- 
000. 

Two incidents of the last year, will close the volume. 

1. The Cholera.. — Cases of this fearful disease appeared on boats nav- 
igating the lower Mississippi, during the last months of 1848; and an 
unusual predisposition to diarrhoeas, and affections of the bowels, was 
manifested in St. Louis at the same time. Two cases of cholera, and one 
death, occurred the first week in January, 1849. According to Dr. Mc- 
Pheeters.f there were 38 deaths from cholera in January, (two thirds of 
the cases being imported from New Orleans,) .30 deaths in March, 18 in 
April. In the tirst week in May, there was a fearful increase in the pro- 
gress of the disease, and of deaths. Deaths from all diseases, i)er week, 
from 113 to 193. Total deaths in May, 786 ; cholera 517. For two 
weeks following the great fire, there was a perceptible decrease in the 
mortality and number of cases. During the first week in June, there 
were 144 deaths ; 74 of cholera. Second week, 283 deaths ; 189 of chole- 
ra. Third week, 522 deaths ; 426 from cholera. Fourth week, 798 deaths; 
636 from cholera. From June 26th to July 2nd, 951 deaths; 739 from 
cholera ; — from July 3rd to 9th, §51 deaths ; 654 from cholera. P>om 
July 10th to the 16th, 888 deaths ; 669 from cholera. From July 17th to 
the 23rd, 440 deaths, 269 from cholera. Last week in July, 231 deatiis ; 
131 from cholera. During the entire year of 1849, the mortality of the 
city was 8,603 ; cholera, (according to Dr. McPheters) 4,557. Other re- 
ports increase the cholera cases to 4,800. The cholera disappeared (ex- 
cept occasional cases) after the lOtli of August. From the fir.st of No- 
vember, 1849, to the first of April, 1850, unusual health has prevailed 
for a city population. 

2. The Great Fire, broke out on the steamboat White Cloud, near 
the foot of Cherry street, at the hour of 10 o'clock at niglit, on the 17th 
of May, 1849. The wind was from a North-Eastern direction, and blew 
with great force all the night. In a short time 23 steamboats were on 
fire, and consumed ; some with valuable cargoes on board. The fire first 
caught the stores at the foot of Locust street ; then, by another burning 
boat at the toot of Elm street, and simultaneously two fires were sweep- 
ing over several squares ; driven by the wind with resistless fury. IMas- 
sive buildings of brick or stone, three and four stories in lieiglit, offered 
no resistance. The fires from the buildings and the boats, cut oft' all com- 
munication with the river, and by 2 o'clock, A. M., on the ISth, the city 
reservoir was exhausted. Up to this time, the firemen did all that men 
and machinery could do, to stop the devouring element. Buildings were 
blown up, several valuable lives were lost; but about 8 o'clock, A. M., 
after ten hours devastation, its fury was spent. About 400 buildings were 
burnt ; many of them large wholesale stores. The steamboats, their car- 
goes, and produce on the landing, were valued at 518,500; buildings, 
$602,748 ; merchandize, $654,950. Add to furniture, provisions, clothing, 
etc., and the loss was estimated at $2,750,000. About two-thirds the 
value were covered by insurance. The cholera during the summer, was 
more fatal than the fire, to the business of the city. 

And now, as wc look over the " burnt district," much the largest pro- 
portion is covered with buildings of a superior character ; streets are 
widened, and even naked lots sell higher per linear foot, than ttiey did be- 
fore the Great Fire. 

*IIistory of the Epidemic Cholera in St. Louis, in 1849; Medical and Surgical Jonrnal 
for March, 1850. 



s 



Lbi/ii'3li 



